Blog

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Tesla Motors blog. This is my space to comment without marketing filters. I have quite a few subjects I want to talk about over the next several months, but I will also look to you, my readers, for suggestions and ideas for future topics. I expect this to be a lively conversation.

Today, I will talk about what we are doing here at Tesla, and why it is different than any car company that has come before.

If you look hard at the numbers, it is very clear that an electric car is the cleanest and most efficient kind of car in existence. We have done exhaustive “well to wheel” energy and emissions analyses, and the numbers are undeniable. (Check out our White Papers section for details.) This is pretty technical, but you can check the sanity of this claim by looking at the actual cost to drive an electric car. My electric rate at home is 13 cents per kilowatt hour. At this rate, the Tesla Roadster costs about 2.6 cents per mile to drive. Compare this to my Mazda 3, which goes 33 mpg, for a fuel cost of about 8.6 cents per mile at today’s gas prices. (The story gets better if I sign up for the 5 cents per kilowatt hour incentive EV rate from PG&E.)

If electric cars are so great, why have they failed? Over the next few months, I will talk a bit about what has changed on the technology front – and indeed, technology is a key component of the answer. But today I want to focus on Tesla’s different attitude.

My observation is that most electric cars were designed by and for people who fundamentally don’t think we should drive. Ideally, we should walk or take public transportation; EVs are a necessary evil for when these don’t work. This mentality has lead to dozens of unappealing electric “punishment cars” such as:

Electra King (1961?)

Stuart (1962)

Electro Master (1963)

Bucy Lectric Car (1960’s)

Spook Electric (1968)

Vanguard Sport Coupe (1972)

Marathon C-300 Electric Car (1980)

Commuta-Car (1981)

PIVCO Citi (1995)

GEM (1998-current)

Amerigon Reva (now in India)

Zap Xebra (current)

The electric cars sold by the big car companies under California’s Zero Emissions Vehicle mandate of the 1990s were a bit better, but the mandate’s requirement that a significant percentage of the companies’ sales be zero-emissions cars by 2003 again forced them to make less-than-desirable cars – cars with limited range, limited performance, and limited appeal. In most cases, they simply converted gasoline cars without any optimization for the unique characteristics of an electric drivetrain. Yet, the owners of the cars loved them. (And in the case of leased cars, fought like crazy to prevent them from being taken back and crushed.)

We at Tesla Motors love cars. We love to drive; we appreciate beautiful and fun cars. And Tesla cars are built for people who love to drive. So our optimization is not for ultimate low cost, but rather for performance, aesthetics, and sex appeal.

Tesla’s pro-driver attitude:

Since we were creating a no-compromise driver’s car rather than the cheapest possible car, we took the opportunity to fix the worst problem of past EVs: driving range. It is no secret that fitting enough batteries to get a decent driving range is not easy. So most EVs could only make it 60 or 80 miles on a charge – short enough that you would spend most of your time worrying about where you might get your next charge, instead of enjoying the drive.

Yes, we spent more on the batteries than would possibly fit the budget of a commuter car. But there is a bit of magic (okay, advanced technology) in Tesla’s batteries too. By using advanced lithium ion cells in a radical way, we deliver 250 highway miles’ driving range. (Caveat: this is the EPA’s highway driving cycle – and as all the big boys say, your driving range may differ, depending on your driving style. I’ll expect more like 200 miles range with my driving style!) This is enough that you can enjoy driving all day and never worry about stopping to charge. (Remember that you start every morning with a “full tank” because the car charges overnight in your garage.)

We designed the Roadster around high-performance chassis technology licensed from one of the world’s finest sportscar companies. We wrapped the Roadster in a carbon fiber body after spending over a year on styling. We include expected creature comforts like A/C, sat-nav system, leather and carbon fiber heated seats, a usable trunk, etc.

And how about efficiency? That’s a honking powerful motor we put in the Roadster. Everyone knows that the bigger and badder your gasoline engine, the more gas it sucks – no matter how gently you choose to drive it.

For gasoline, bigger equals less efficient – there’s no way around it. Amazingly, the opposite is true for electric motors: the bigger the electric motor the more efficient it is. So by making a powerful electric car, we are also making a highly-efficient car. It seems almost like cheating.

Fantastic! An electric car that makes people drool over it's styling. However I really and truely can't help but think all the styling cues came from Lotus. It's just sufficiently tweaked not to look identical to the Elise/Europa and the M250. Actually I think it is an M250, FANTASTIC you've made it!

So how much is it ?????

Bryan Rosenkrantz

11:39pm | Jul 19, 2006

The car looks great and I love the philosophy behind it. I would love to be a part of what you are doing, I already sent you a resume, but I thought being the first post on your blog might get me some extra consideration. Whatever happens I really respect your motivations and once again the car rocks!

Hi Martin and crew!
Congratulations on this radically different vehicle, it will be making waves!
I can't wait to see it in person and test-drive it, I guess it will be better than my BMW,
which I drive entirely different than my Prius and I again change my driving style when
I use my current EV.
This car has the best of both worlds - performance and efficiency,
without the compromises we see everywhere else.
Another word of encouragement: it is real easy to get the E9 TOU rate installed by PG&E,
I only needed to send one FAX and before the end of the week I had another meter
installed for free and I am charging every night at 5c per kWh.

Is your next model going to be a (family) sedan?
Reason for me to have a Prius plus an EV is to have range and zero-emission,
be it in two different cars. If it can be done in one car, I am all ears.

Congratulations!!!! It does have sex appeal! I live in Arizona and I have read that elevated temperatures hasten permanent capacity loss in lithium ion batteries. When do you expect to offer the car in this area? What do you expect the battery life to be? Will you include battery replacement in the price of the car? Can I buy a service/support agreement for the car and battery replacement just like a company would buy for a large computer and software investment?

Wouldn't it be great to one day tell Opec and the Middle East, no thanks, we just don't need it anymore.

You need to add a cost/price justification calculator on your website that takes into account existing mpg and rising gas prices. That's the first thing I did for myself.

Congratulations on bringing an exciting and highly relevant car to market. I applaud the courage, dedication and innovation required to make it happen, and I applaud the vision of your investors. Let's hope Tesla represents a rebirth of production EVs, both from the top down and the bottom up, via Plug-In Hybrids. Plug-In hybrids will start with a limited EV mode range which will grow from there. They and pure EVs like Tesla's will come down in price as battery technology continues to improve and production volume and storage capacity of Lithium-Ion batteries increases. Good choice on partnering with Lotus too as they are leaders in stong, lightweight chassis and cars.

Here are a couple corrections for your web site, which is otherwise well thought-out and designed. Our Toyota RAV4 EV gets about 100 miles of range, not the 60 cited for prior EVs. Also there was no EV2 (on the range graphic). The NiMH EV1 was still called an EV1 Gen II.

Cheers,

Jeff C.

Eric Morrison

12:08am | Jul 20, 2006

Hi! I guess I am the only person up to see the launch of the new website showcasing the Tesla Roadster. Wow! I like what I have seen so far. It's electric, right? How many people have asked you that question?

I love the design of the car. It is sure sexier than any car out there. Tesla sure has set the bar high for the competition? What competition, right?

When will you start to design an electric car meant for a family, such as a four door sedan or a mini van?

I haven't driven a car since I had a car accident when I was 16 years old. That was 14 years ago. The Tesla Roadster makes me want to relearn how to drive!!!

Thank you for launching Tesla Motors and I wish you and your company much success in the future!

Eric Morrison

P.S. What a changequake!!

shaun

12:09am | Jul 20, 2006

considering that the biggest value of ZEVs in Ca is in meeting the relics of the CARB mandate, how long do you think it will be before Tesla gets bought by a major manufacturer?

cool car. i just hope it won't get bought and squashed.

Paul Golovin

12:12am | Jul 20, 2006

It seems that your energy-dense batteries would make an electric motorcycle also interesting, for much less total cost maybe ?

Matt Riskam

12:23am | Jul 20, 2006

First post of Tesla Motors!! Congratulations on the introduction of the Tesla Roadster. I really believe in what you guys are trying to do. I'll be visiting the Petersen Museum tomorrow to take a closer look. Now how about a test drive!

Reading everything about your new roadster really has me excited. the white paper is very interesting. This is an awesome start to what we (our entire society) really need to get serious about - EVs that don't sacrifice performance based solely on the electrical nature of the vehicle. We are Americans, after all, and won't stop driving any time soon.

Will you be emailing the list with the date for accepting deposits? I gotta get me one of these.... I can't wait to see the faces of all the 'vette and 'stang drivers as I go whizzing by.

I am very intrigued. How soon do you expect to be in the Houston, Tx area? I will continue to watch Tesla and am very pleased that someone has found ways to extend mileage AND performance. I am a diehard speed freak/motorhead but also appreciate a way to get to work and back and around town. My commute is 40 miles per day at highway speeds and I am looking for the next possible car. How do you power the AC which is extremely important in Tx? Is the AC conventional or have you jazzed it up as well?

Cisco

12:36am | Jul 20, 2006

Well it certainly loks good but it still doesn't come up to Nikola's final car ---no bateries at all and no recharging, when are you going to acheive that?

Jack Malmostoso

12:40am | Jul 20, 2006

First of all, let me wish you the best of luck for your initiative.
I am a PhD student in Li-Ion batteries and I am really amazed by your numbers. I'd be thrilled to see this car over here in Europe. Are there any plans to show it at some car event?
Looking forward to it, thanks!

Congratulations!
There's a lot of potential in Li-Ion batteries, and I had been expecting an affordable production car to exploit it for a long time. I'm now waiting for a test-drive report from a known journalist.

Norberto

12:40am | Jul 20, 2006

Well done!
great compliments!
I hope to see your Roadster on Italians roads soon!!!!!

Alberto Daniel Garbolino

12:41am | Jul 20, 2006

This car it's very interesting, i think that will sell a lot.
But I would know the weight of this vehicle...??????
Thank you
bye

Milos K

12:41am | Jul 20, 2006

Absolutely awesome car! You guys have thought of everything. Been eagerly awaiting the unveling for a while.

Just one question re charging - you say every morning you start with a full charge, but if charging is like cell phones, the batteries have a memory and you shouldn't recharge them till the charge is almost all gone. So if you charge the Tesla every night, will that shorten the life of the batteries, possilbe greatly? (assuming you don't do 250 miles every day!)

Martin, it is truly a beautiful car. A green car that is actually cool. Seeing you're rolling out in CA, I suspect this will be the most popular celebrity ride in town next year and get plenty of free paparazzi attention. Sadly, it's out of my price range.

Hopefully you'll write up about the battery replacement costs and what the impact is on disposing batteries to the environment vs. traditional vehicles.

Absolutely great to see what you guys have attained so far - keep it up, never buckle and make it available in Europe asap.

Ben Huh

12:53am | Jul 20, 2006

Bravo. It's about time someone rethought the formula of a car from the wheels up. I hope today will go down in automotive history as one of the most important milestones.

Hannes

1:09am | Jul 20, 2006

Thank you so much for the starting a new century for our enviroment!
I will not be able to buy the Tesla Roadster, because I am from Austria and I don't have the amount of money, but I hope there will be electric cars from Tesla that will be made for everybody!
But I love the Tesla Roadster - it's the best car I have ever seen!
Go on with it! I wish you all the best!
I hope in 2 years everyone on this planet will know about your car and its advantages!

Greetings from Austria, Kufstein

rh2600

1:14am | Jul 20, 2006

Nowhere am I able to find out how much the car weighs. Can you tell me?

Lee Honeycutt

1:27am | Jul 20, 2006

Moving forward, what is the company's plans in regard to li-ion batteries. Your website says you're using "commodity lithium-ion cells" and that thermal build-up mitigated with a liquid cooling system. But aren't new generation li-ion batteries on the horizon that avoid thermal build-up and take less time to charge? Do you expect to use these types of batteries in the near future?

Great car, BTW. Thanks for all your hard work and innovation. I hope it pays off in spades for you.

Joel

1:32am | Jul 20, 2006

I think what you are doing is great. Unfortunately your first vehicle will undoubtably be out of my Price range. Hopefully as the technology becomes more common the price will come down. I have read lots of comments about the lack of noise and how the sound of an engine is a big part of the driving experience. So how about giving the car the ability to produce sound (Inside as there is no point in annoying those outside). It would be great to bbe able to press a button and choose an Alfa V6 one day and a Honda Vtech the next. Feel particularily racy and you could choose a nice V8 ferrari or on lazy days maybe a big v8. Pointless of course but it would add to the experience for me.

Martin, I really believe in your vision for this car and am thrilled to see you have brought it to fruition. I hope 60 minutes does a piece on you soon. Which Im guessing is around the corner just by looking at the specs of the Tesla Roadster.

I promote an artist who is futuristic and electronic related. He is a sound designer/producer/composer/musician/programmer and we would love the chance to be able to submit music or sounds for any part of Tesla Motors. After reading a article in Wired I would like to help market your sportscar. If that sounds interesting then you can get back with me. I know it's a little out the box for an idea. But that's what I do I try things and if they dont work no big to me.

Remember the Hummer commercials? And that electronic background? Exactly... They worked like a charm. Anyways I think there's alot potential in marketing your car to stylistic urban audience.

I think you would probably be impressed just on his sound designing alone. I can send you some test sound files and you can take it from there. I don't know . Call me crazy but you are a D.I.Y type pioneer and so is this artist.

IMHO, Music is the key to the rhythm of the customer.

C-H

2:09am | Jul 20, 2006

This car is incredible! The time is ripe for the electric sports car. With a 5-7% increase in battery capacity each year, the performance will have doubled in 10-15 years. That is a lot faster than conventional cars evolve. The future belongs to cars like the Tesla Roadster. (Which reminds me I have a patent application for a Level 2.5 electric car charger to file.)

Stuart Parmenter

2:10am | Jul 20, 2006

The car looks great! I might have to upgrade from my Lotus Elise. Glad to see it comes in orange!

Greg Woughter

2:12am | Jul 20, 2006

Beautiful Car Mr. Eberhard.

This car looks like everything I've hoped electric cars would evolve into. It has elegance, performance, comfort and attitude. There's nothing about this car that calls for sacrifice, it's a hedonistic masterpiece of automotive engineering.

I eagerly await video of your car in motion, and even more eagerly await the day when it's displayed in Miami.

Emmanuel Delahaye

2:17am | Jul 20, 2006

Hello,

I heard about your company, and the car you produce, for the first time ever this morning. I can hardly tell how enthusiast I am. Congratulations for such an achievement!

I am a convinced ecologist as well as a sport cars lover (I must confess I’ve owned an old Porsche 911 for some time… I know, it might be contradictory, but hey, I’m only human!)

Hopefully, this car just looks like the one I’ve been waiting for many years now… I just wish you would quickly sell it in France, were I live -and produce this model to a plenty, so that the price become more affordable ;-)

At last, being a journalist in a local newspaper, I just can’t wait the day I’ll do some report about your car.

Hi Martin,
Congrats on the great response that's been received on the roadster

"At this rate, the Tesla Roadster costs about 2.6 cents per mile to drive. Compare this to my Mazda 3, which goes 33 mpg, for a fuel cost of about 8.6 cents per mile at today’s gas prices. (The story gets better if I sign up for the 5 cents per kilowatt hour incentive EV rate from PG&E.)"
Wow that comes out as a huge difference. Kudos to you guys for coming up with something like this.

I am in awe of the design :) and also the specs. Would love to be the owner of this babe someday.

Btw, did you checkout your name on the wikipedia page of the roadster ? It's written Mark Eberhard there :)

Congratulations on your public announcement! I hope you'll soon have an event in the Bay Area (where you are located) where people can marvel over (and buy!) your car.

By the way, your incentives page has a picture of a YELLOW carpool lane sticker used for hybrids rather than a WHITE one used for electric cars. Please contact me if you want to take a pic of a WHITE one, as I have one I have not yet affixed to replace the faded ones on my RAV4 EV.

I note that the 177 Wh/mi is better than the approximately 270 city and 340 hwy Wh/mi rating for the RAV4 EV and comparable to that of the GM EV1.

p person

2:43am | Jul 20, 2006

Can you give a hint of cost,of the car?25000,35000, or higher? What about a four seater
for folks who have kids with them sometimes? Other then those it looks like a great car
a kick to drive,I guess we shall see.

I reckon you've hit the nail bang on the head. Here in London people are buying electric cars as fast as they can get hold of them as the parking and congestion charge incentives are so good. The one thing I come across time and again is 'can you drive that car with confidence?' It's all about driver appeal, amongst both the buying public and the motoring press. Send us the Tesla and watch it fly out of the showrooms..

aleksander kenton

2:56am | Jul 20, 2006

May I congratulate you and your team of having the vision and courage to see the same dream I've had through to this stage. I have been tinkering with the idea of elecric cars for years, never took that next step from the drawing board.

I wish you all the best luck in the future and hope to hear more fantastic news about the Tesla roadster. I will be the first to buy one when its available here in the UK and if I don't have to remorgage to afford one :)

Sinverely,

Aleksander Kenton

Colin Leach

3:10am | Jul 20, 2006

I work in the oil industry here in Houston, Texas. We have probably seen the end of cheap oil and the US dependence on foreign oil is incredibly short sighted.

Yes the US does have an abundance of energy sources that can be used to generate electricity (coal for example), but the key here is that the Tesla (and other electric vehicles) will allow us to utilize these other sources of power for individual road transportation. Clean electricity generation can be worked on in parallel.

I did test drive an EV1 for 2 weeks back in 1996 - would have bought one if I had been allowed. It was fun to drive and a very effective vehicle for me in Houston, even with an effective range of 80 miles. Batteries have obviously improved since then.

But, going back to it. A switch to vehicles like the Tesla (I would keep my SUV/Van for the weekend getaway (though battery charging may come of age in the future)) would allow the following for the US:

1. Weaning away from foreign oil (Iraq and the middle east along with Venezuela become less important and have less money to spend on...)
2. Cut emmissions and reduce Global Warming
3. We could perform all of the activities internally - good for the economy
4. This would also reduce the trade deficit

In all this looks like a hell of an energy policy and the cars would be so much fun to drive.

When can I get one in Houston???

Regards

Colin Leach

Frank

3:18am | Jul 20, 2006

A small curiosity: I've noticed that the braking system of your car is a conventional one. Even while i can understand that you couldnot rely completely on it, there're technical reasons not to use an energy recovering engine brake too? (Obviously, if you're not already "silently" using it). Expecially using a car in an urban environment, with frequent accelerations and stops, recovering as much kinetic energy as possible should help with autonomy. It's simply not a feasible solution for some reasons, or we can simply expect to see this in later models, when the technology will be more mature?

why make a two seater? If you really believe in ecology, a clean environment, why didn't you build a family car or buses or trucks.
Who, a part from the rich, are going to buy a two seater? If you are really serious about the environment why not build a car for all the people?
Im disappointed, always talking about saving the environment, about improving our lives, and you build a car for the rich.

What a jewel! This car will change the world. How appropriate that it should come from our beloved California. I live in Fresno, and grew up in Central California. I work for a bank and our demographics predict up to 10 million additional residents by 2025 in the Central Valley between Bakersfield and Sacramento. Your technology must come or, quite simply, we'll poison ourselves. I hope that electric car technology and clearn energy - wind, solar, and next generation nuclear - will be come the new industrial base for our State.

There's a slogan on the peristyle of the Supreme Court Building in Sacramento - Give me men to match my mountains. You guys fit the bill!

I love the car not only do I want one, I need one! This is real motivation to start making some serious money! Well therein is the problem, we need a goal, what is the car "expected" to cost, we know you cant tell us the car will cost X dollars, but an indicated or target price would be fantastic! I would really love to be the first South African owner of this car, (after Elon of course) ......

Thanks very much for not only a very cool, beautiful and desireable product, but also for pioneering our futures. Our dependability on petrol (GAS) is not a good thing for mankind, nor our enviroment.

I look forward to visiting your site regularly.

Simon
Johannesburg
South Africa

hal9000

3:39am | Jul 20, 2006

This is a really nice looking car and those specs certainly read well.
I would be interested to know if you plan to sell to the UK as I'm sure there is a market for this.

As an American consumer I feel honored to witeness what hopefully will be a new revolution in our economy and our future. I live in Texas and stayed up till 2AM to witness the unveiling of your vehicle and let me tell you it was well worth it. I hope you have plans to introduce other models of your vehicle including a family size vehicle and I also look forward to a quick expansion of your company across the nation. I would love to run your first independent dealership here in Texas.

In these times of war our country MUST end its dependence on foreign oil and in times of global warming and drastic climate changes we MUST find alternatives to the environment unfriendly emmissions that our current vehicles emit.

I want to wish all of you the best of luck in your endeavours. I am absolutely so impressed with everything that I have read about your venture. We have been way overdue for such technology to come out and once again the U.S. can assume it's dominance in the automotive industry.

Oleg

3:41am | Jul 20, 2006

great job, folks. Have you considered applying the same hi-tech to motorcycling? any chances os seeing, say, "tesla scooters" around anytime soon?

I have to say that this car does look stunning, and the performance specs are impressive as well.
It's encouraging to see that electricity is a viable alternative to fossil fuels, particularly with regard to range and raw performance.
I wish everyone in Tesla Motors the best of luck in this venture and hopefully you can lead the way to a cleaner and more environmentally friendly driving future.

So excited about this it's unture... don't think you could have created a more perfect car for me... I'll be getting one as soon as it's humanly possible.

Completely agree with approach that your company has taken to creating this car. I hope it is a massive success and provides a catalyst for all cars to be powered this way... and the sooner the better.

Many thanks Martin, I look forward to reading future blogs with great interest.

P.S. I'm based in the UK, hope I'll be able to pick it up from Lotus without the need for it to be shipped to the US and back again.

Hugh

4:14am | Jul 20, 2006

This car can't come soon enough. I'm going to buy one for sure (your making them right hand drive? I would assume so being built be lotus). All I need then is to put up a wind turbine behind my garage and my conscience will be clear.

Owning LOTUS Cars and doing most of my own maintanance,I wonder about all the other things not mentioned that have limited life. Shocks,Springs,Bearings(Suspension Parts?)Sand Pitted Windshields and Wiper Blades, Light Bulbs (LED?). Can an owner who is qualified do these things with out voiding . Will parts be mail order? What about A/C maint., Window , Wiper , Washer or Fan Motors? How about Switches or Circut Breakers/Fuses? Are all these types of things covered by you? For how long? Whats the Base Price? Any Idea?
Love what I see. Can't go wrong with it. Drive a minimum of 140 miles a day just to and from work. How much trunk space? What does it weigh? Sometimes I go further than 250 miles to and from work. How do I charge the batterys?
Please Reply / Thank You

Brad Croy

4:32am | Jul 20, 2006

Martin, You have created the vehicle that I have been pondering for some time now. I can't wait to buy one.

Kevin D. Green

4:34am | Jul 20, 2006

Finally!

It seems there have been two major camps regarding moterized vehicles: (1) those who are married to the rather inefficient internal combustion engine, and (2) those who detest the entire concept of the automobile. Neither camp seems to understand we need to move forward with a new and preferrably better technology, AND we need private transportation options.

The new approach is required to move away from the petroleum complex and all of its baggage (Must all of the issues be listed?), and the idea that public transportation is the only realistic solution necessitates a major decline in the standard of living. (Even prior to the automobile people had their own horses and wagons.)

Good luck Tesla Motors. I for one am rooting for you.

Al Levesque

4:36am | Jul 20, 2006

Finally the right attitude for an EV! If your development program includes an ongoing effort to take advantage of developing battery technologies and allow for the easy retrofit of previous models, you should have a winner.

Best wishes, I look forward to a test drive,
Al Levesque
Jupiter, Florida

I spoke with one of you (darn if I can't remember who) before you moved to your present location. At the time I recall having a sense of high expectation and confidence you were going to come up with something good.

Well! This isn't just "good," this is "Oh... My... God...!" You've just created the sports car of the future, with zero compromises. If I were planning to buy a (you know which marques) any time soon, I'd switch gears and send you guys a deposit instead, and count down the days with eager anticipation.

A colleague of mine has a serious taste for motion. He also hasn't much patience for the usual electric vehicle offerings. I heard your specs on a radio interview on Wedsnesday, so I told my colleague, "There's a new EV being unveiled today." He looked at me like, "yeah sure..." I said, "top speed around 130, with 0-60 in four seconds, and over 200 mile range."

He said "Now THAT is a car! That is a car I'd buy."

About those "other" electrics. I wouldn't refer to them as "unappealing punishment cars," but rather as "mundane compromise cars." They are after all useful in a strictly utilitarian sense. But they aren't designed to appeal to the spirit of the open road, the feeling of boundlessness, and the taste for performance without compromise. They serve their purpose in trips to town, but clearly aren't the vehicle for an exhilarating spin along the coast or a weekend trip where the drive counts for as much as the destination.

It's pretty clear what's going to happen here. Your first buyers are going to hit the road and heads are going to turn like nothing before. When drivers of (those other marques) see something approaching them from behind, passing them faster than a jet, and leaving a silent streak of two black lines out to the horizon, they are going to pinch themselves and think they're dreaming. Then they'll get online, look you up, pick up the phone and call. There will be a lot of (those other marques) turning up for sale pre-owned, with their previous owners saying "It's a fine car, but I just had to have a Tesla."

There's another thing about the Tesla that's inspiring. It's proof positive that the future doesn't have to be a zero-sum game. You can have fast, luxurious, sleek, sexy, powerful, AND green; you can be sustainable without feeling confined; you can put the joy back into driving and hand the keys to Planet Earth to your grandchildren.

Rarely does a new automobile come along that changes the very rules of the game. Congratulations, you've just done it.

-George

Bob

4:48am | Jul 20, 2006

Awesome looking car! I hope it becomes very successful and more models become available. You are right, it is all about attitude!

This is the right vehicle at the right time, doing the right thin. With our 60% oil imports from unstable countries, gas prices of $3 at the pump and over #9 at our reality of subsidies and tax right offs to big oil as well as wars in countries to keep the oil flowing this couldn't be better. I can't wait for the family vehicle to come out.
You are changing the world in ways the big automakers couldn't before. This is world changing news.

I haven't been excited about a car in years. As much as I always talk about hating cars, it was never about the driving experience but rather the guilt behind it. I focused my life around not having to drive - i may have to "switch".

I'm a real EV entusiast but also a real petrolhead. The Tesla sounds like the car for me. Well done on all the good work.

I have a question: Have you looked into using ultracapacitors? I know the problem is in controlling the the discharge rate but it did occur to me if anyone could solve that problem it would be someone in silicon valley - just a thought.

Cheers.

JP.

R.S.Bell

5:26am | Jul 20, 2006

Teslamotors, et.al.,

Too bad you can't put a small diesel generator on board to charge the batteries as the most efficient configuration is a battery that gets re-charged at the same rate as it get dis-charged. Otherwise kudos for a great job of design and engineering!. Now, get to work on something comparable to VW's "Caddy" that will be both utilitarian and configurable for multi-uses. Congratulations!
R.S.Bell,Jr.
inscape design

stevejust

5:33am | Jul 20, 2006

There are two problems with Tesla Motors: 1) You won't let me invest in the company. 2) I was really hoping to be able to pre-order one when the site went live.

With gas at $3 a gallon, the middle east approaching a world war, a president that did nothing but run companies into the ground (spectrum 7, arbusto, harken energy) before doing the same with this country, and another hurricane season upon us -- things on a global level appear so bleak that it seems silly to think about buying something that could appear so self-indulgent to so many. Yet at the same time, this car is such a big step forward in the right direction that it offers a golden ray of hope against an otherwise dire backdrop.

If GM or another of the "big" 3 comes and offers to buy your company, please tell them to shove off.

Cliff

5:34am | Jul 20, 2006

Man, I'm excited about this thing! I just hope that I can afford it, once the prices are released. There's an awful lot of talk on the website about the environmental benefits of this EV, but that's all kinda' useless if only the rich can afford it...

Again, I'm really looking forward to seeing what Tesla can do! Good luck!

~Cliff

Frank

5:39am | Jul 20, 2006

Forget it... I missed the place where you explained that it IS already integrated... sorry...
By the way, do you have plans to commercialice this in Europe too?

Dave

5:40am | Jul 20, 2006

I can't believe what I'm looking at.
If this is for real, and I have no reason to believe that it's not, I hope to be one of the first owners of this awesome car in Washington State. I 'm 6' 3 so one of my concerns is fitting into the drivers seat with enough room for the steering wheel. Well, I'll just have to be patient and find out when I test drive it...

Beautiful vehicle, I live in NY how can I see one? and what price range will this fall into?

Very Interested,
Lance Laviano

Casey from Orlando

5:59am | Jul 20, 2006

I've been following your company's press for a few months now. This is, by far, the most exciting development in the automotive industry lately. I'm really excited about the fact that the focus is drivability and performance instead of punishment. I love cars and I'm a big sports car buff. I had a 500hp Corvette, but the repair and gas bills killed me. I've also been following the prospect of the Smart fortwo EV coming to the US, but it's performance is something like 0-60 in 20 seconds. Ugh.

Tesla Motors has reinvigorated me. Simple, super-efficient, lightweight design with no gas bill...
Please, please don't just price this in the range of the super-rich. Give us middle class folks some hope!

Congratulations, Martin, to you and everyone at Tesla who've worked so hard to get to this day. Your efforts in designing and bringing to market this car, and the care and thought you've put into every step are evident to a one who wished he could have been in Santa Monica at your unveiling. Your website is a model of effective presentation of the most important information that both customers and fans are looking for. And your pitch and photos are in the great automotive tradition of inspiring lust in the buyer's heart and mind.

If anyone has a chance to change public perceptions about electric vehicles, it's your team. As I hopefully said in our posting announcing your launch, as you produce successive generations of ever-more affordable and compelling Tesla cars, we'll all be trading in our hybrids and, perhaps, our plug-in hybrids!

Great work on the vehicle. I do hope the price point you choose will allow for a middle-class buyer to afford the vehicle but I also understand that the pro forma necessitates the price (what ever it may be).

The more you can develop the technology, the better prepared at least one automotive company will be for the production of electric vehicles at a very large scale.

Have you looked into Scion Power (www.scionpower.com) and their lithium sulfur batteries as a better alternative battery system?

Again, great job and good look. Love the name, really like the vehicle, really love the concept.

Terry Amos

6:06am | Jul 20, 2006

Hi Martin, congratulations on the building a car of the future. Your figures of range and speed and enviromental concerns are what this world needs. I will be eagerly waiting to see what the motoring world and indeed the big oil companies make of your product. (Not to mention the governments of the world who reap $$ of tax from normal fuels.) I suspect it will be a while until the petrol car fades away, but the way fuel costs are going - who knows?

Yours sincerely,
Terry Amos

Ted Hall

6:07am | Jul 20, 2006

Good for you guys! Finally people who get it!

Please tell us that you will use this attitude to expand into luxury performance sedans, and large SUVs. Frankly, all I need is a viable choice and I'll ditch my S4 and Suburban in a second.

Does AWD/4WD present particular challenges for you?

LoneScout

6:12am | Jul 20, 2006

The Roadster is a Very Beautiful Electric Car,made for the Person who LOVES to Drive.The Future looks Wonderful.Remember---For Every ACTION! there is a REACTION! Like + & - Forces. So Maybe we will have Real Electric Powered Cars,And Real Air Powered Cars.(May The Force Be With You)
Peace,
LoneScout

Chris

6:18am | Jul 20, 2006

This roadster is hot! And this company has the means to turn the American auto industry on its ear. I look forward to seeing the models that come out in the future and will hopefully be able to buy one.

It is a bit beyond the my means and needs: it lacks a place for the child's car seat and the dog, but I hope the roadster is a wild success and Tesla can expand its line of vehicles. I'm not asking for a mini-van, but I hope the next car in your line is more like the Subaru Outback, or perhaps the Volvo or the Saab 900. I'm convinced Tesla has the right attitude to produce cars that people want to drive, and the key to doing that is (1) functionality, and (2) utility.

Rob Floyd

6:19am | Jul 20, 2006

The car looks awesome & the technology extremely finie. I will look forward to being the 1st Tesla Offshore employee to own a Tesla Motors sports car.

bubba

6:20am | Jul 20, 2006

It sounds too good to be true.

Chris

6:23am | Jul 20, 2006

A rough price range would be a nice thing to have on your website. I'd like to know if this vehicle is something I can even consider without a movie star salary.

Craig Siegman

6:24am | Jul 20, 2006

From what I've seen it looks like you've made some good engineering and product decisions. Unfortunately, one downside to inherent high efficiency is that there are fewer ways to take advantage of the inefficiencies to provide ancilliary services such as cabin heat and air conditioning. Living in Miami this is an important consideration. How much will running the A/C affect the range of the vehicle? How about the driving lights and even the windshield wipers?

I don't see any specs on capacities. Where can I find the legroom, shoulder room, head room, and hip room?

Are you going to be showing the vehicle in Miami anytime soon?

Bhavin Patel

6:25am | Jul 20, 2006

Martin, great job to you and the team. It really is amazing how innovations in the electronics industry (i.e. laptop batteries, etc) can be applied to the auto industry. The big boys in Rock City need to learn a few things.

Did the not so economical hybrid automobile finally become economical?....hmm..whats the estimated price range for the Tesla?

Simon Williams

6:26am | Jul 20, 2006

I wish you all the success in the world and look forward to the time when you start selling in the UK.

Matthew Ryan

6:38am | Jul 20, 2006

Thanks to you and you company we now have an electric car that not only has sound engineering, but always looks great. Best of luck and maybe with a little magazine/television advertising this could really take off. I may have just found my new favorite car.

Dave Rush

6:38am | Jul 20, 2006

We hear from the "auto" industry that Li-ion batteries are at least two years away from being viable for new designs such as plug in hybrids. I heard on CNBC that yours are an assembly of something like 1000 individual packages. Can you comment on reliabiliy, expected life, replacement cost, multiple vendors. Congratulations on your name and your product.

Pascal Voets

6:39am | Jul 20, 2006

Great car, can't wait for introduction in Europe, especially the Netherlands. The Dutch governement stimulates new types of energies, als in combination of transportation due to environmental issues.

Congratulations on taking this venture that definitely will change the future of auto industry in the U.S. I'm sure it will be a huge success. Looking forward to get close and personal at a dealership in east coast.

Dan

6:43am | Jul 20, 2006

Awesome car. I think Porsche had an Electric all wheel drive car in the Late 1800's which was kind of neat. I beleive the US government should fund all your R&D costs and create an assembly plant immediately. They also should subsidize every AMERICAN car you build and create a gameplan for the infastruture on U.S. highways. They also should bring over the greatest engineering minds from M.I.T. and help you grow. I think when Ford started the government helped and i know VW and Mercedes got help from their government. Good luck Mr. Eberhard and your design team and i hope for your companies success.

Ron Blanford

6:43am | Jul 20, 2006

I applaud you for not trying to take shortcuts. One of the big drawbacks of electric cars is the sheer weight of the batteries. You've started to address that by using lithium ion cells rather than lead acid, and an aluminum and carbon fiber body. Are there other components (wheels, brakes, suspension, luxury items) that could be pared or removed by the enthusiast to gain more performance?

Robert Goudreau

6:43am | Jul 20, 2006

Is Tesla Motors following the progress of the EESTOR ultracapacitor,and if this technology really works,would Tesla use it into their cars ? Thanks for your answer

Nicko

6:44am | Jul 20, 2006

I'm very excited to see the progress you have made with the Tesla Roadster and I look forward to driving one at some point soon.

You asked (rhetorically), if electric cars are so great, why have they failed? I think that there is an issue which is yet to be addressed, by you or others in this space, and this is the "fill time". For a sports car that I'll use to run from the city to Yountville for the day a 250 mile range is just fine and I don't care if it takes one, three or eight hours to charge back up. On the other hand if I want to drive to LA I'll be running low on juice somewhere around Paso Robles and then I need to "fill her up". With good old fashioned, polluting, terrorist-funding fossil fuels this takes just minutes but getting 50 KWh of power into the batteries is going to require a very long rest stop indeed.

I fear that until the fill time problem is resolved electric vehicles will remain very limited in their uptake. It's not that this is so much of a practical problem; I mean, how often do you really drive from San Francisco to LA? It is, as you say, a problem of attitude. You just know that they guy at the GM/Ford/Chrysler dealer is going to be asking the wavering customer if they are really willing to put up with a car that can never, ever, go more than 250 miles a day, and a lot of people will say no.

Jason Clark

6:51am | Jul 20, 2006

This is about the best thing I have ever seen coming out of the new generation of vehicles. Thank You for producing what I have always wanted: A performance electric car. I can hardly wait to get my hands on one of these.

A Quote:
"If you took the energy in a gallon of gas and used it to spin a turbine, you'd get enough electricity to drive an electric car 110 miles,"

It begs the question: is it possible to put up a backup enine that would spin a turbine to do just that? Just curious.

What a well written, refreshing approach to the electric car! All I can say after reading this, is ditto!

When you have time, stop by my web page for the cave man's approach to performance, aesthetics, and sex appeal. No lithium batteries (drool), old tech series-wound motor, dated boy racer body that makes the rice burners smile and the muscle car dudes laugh (until we blow their doors off), and enough electric performance to manage a 1.59 second 60 ft. time with a 12.151 @ 106.25 mph ET.

Keep up the good work. It's about time the world gets to see an electric car of this caliber.

This is the right vehicle at the right time. With air pollution at record levels, gas over $3 at the pump and over $9 to our country with the susbsidies and tax write offs, along with the lost lives fighting wars to free the oil. You will change the world.
Nice work, I wish I could afford one. I'd be glad to lease one and drive it and show it off here in Scottsdale the land of the Barret Jackson autions and exotic sprots cars. I bet you I can get over 300 miles on a charge.

Jim

Paul Golovin

6:56am | Jul 20, 2006

It seems that your energy-dense batteries would make an electric motorcycle also interesting, for even less total cost maybe ? Only with electricity is it easy to achieve 2wd, although I do remember reading once about a 2wd gasoline bike with a coaxial-cable-mechanical-coupling, yet ! A totally vibration-free 2wd bike...

Congratulations on making it this far. I'm looking forward to seeing one of your cars. Do you have plans for the auto show circuit?

Douglas Juhn

7:11am | Jul 20, 2006

Thanks for building a car that satisfies all the needs of the Neo car enthusiast . I will be in line for one. One request: The fit and finish, materials and switchgear of the interior could use an upgrade. Otherwise, Bravo! Cheers! Viva La Rev!
D

Bc

7:14am | Jul 20, 2006

How do you rate fuel consumption on this? Will you have a battery meter that projects the current life based on driving styles? Also will you try to incorporate new capacitor based carbon nano-tube batteries in the future? It seems these achieve higher energy density, are lighter than chemical batteries and can charge faster. I just don't know how far along they are in actual production and achievable energy densities. What is the charging mechanism? Does it merely plug into a standard 120-volt outlet?

JWestlake

7:21am | Jul 20, 2006

Spot on! Electrics up until now have been poorly conceived afterthoughts. From what I see in your website, this roadster is the beginning of a whole new era of electric car. While not for every budget, it appears to be the first "real world" electric car. It is exciting and I hope it catches the imagination of the buying public which in turn will (hopefully) spur on further development.

JoBroDesign

7:28am | Jul 20, 2006

It comes as no surprise, really, that Tesla Motors would name the sluggish auto industry and market as their biggest hurdle. There has always been room for innovation in all facets of the auto industry from actual auto design, energy efficiency, driving habits, etc.

It's refreshing to see a company start from the ground up and create a product with a positive guiding maxim such as "it should be possible." This car is truly a leap forward for the public image of electric vehicles.

But with just this one model available, the question becomes "Can Tesla Motors make the jump from a luxury sports car manufacturer to a producer of a full line of no-compromise, innovative electric automobiles?"

As Tesla seems to have achieved the only honest and so-far successful attempt to create a truly new and actually marketable product, I hope that they are able to capitalize on initial success and apply the same innovation and guiding maxim to many other models that serve a more massive audience. And we should also feel more than a little pride that Tesla is an American company, at least as American as we can hope for these days. It is time for a new player in the auto industry, specifically one that truly delivers a product of innovation and vision. Hopefully Tesla can become that player

William Forte

7:30am | Jul 20, 2006

Love the car. The cost savings on gas really grabbed me and the stylish design can really turn heads. Donno if it'll be in my price range but I'll definately be keeping an eye on this project to replace my current car.

Joe B

7:33am | Jul 20, 2006

Looking forward to test driving one. 160 miles a day round trip commute. Wanted luxury and occasional performance handling. All Hybrids couldn't offer both and their real-world MPG didn't make it the car for me. I just bought a Lexus IS 250 and can get 35MPG real-world with the Luxury I desire for such a long commute, and still have some fun on the weekends. It doesn't look like a space pod to boot. If Tesla was out, there would have been a new contender. Finally someone understands that a hybrid/EV car can be good looking and offer some luxury and performance.
Note to Tesla: the Lotus Elise is too small, hopefully the Tesla is a bit bigger so that an SUV doesn't drive over it like a speed bump.

Please show the car at the Detroit Auto Show and/or the Chicago Auto Show next year!

Thank you for making this breakthrough car! I don't drive and can't afford one even if I could but I know that this is a real breakthrough for environmental sustainability! You will will completely change the image of electric cars! Can you build an econmy hatchback for the under 20,000k crowd? I'm sure you could make an electric car that would leave the honda civic in the dust. One more request... can you put a small turbine generator in it as well? How about a home generator kit that uses alternative fuels? Anyway congratz! It looks awesome!

Wariner

7:35am | Jul 20, 2006

You guys are real innovators. It's so exciting to see that someone is pushing this technology forward. An important moment in history, and an inspiration to all student engineers out there who are interested in building a better world.

Joshua Colvin

7:36am | Jul 20, 2006

Great car -- can't wait until an event in Miami when I can see it for myself. Don't forget to include the cost of maintenance in your "cost per mile" calculations. Above you only mention electricity versus gasoline. The single-moving-part electric engine of the Tesla Roadster requires much less (and much cheaper) maintenance than your average internal combustion engine. It'll be interesting to see what the cost of replacing the batteries at 100,000 miles is.

p.s I live in Bangkok Thailand where the traffic fumes can make you faint. I truly hope that Tesla cars will someday dominate the market here.
-m

Stan

7:37am | Jul 20, 2006

I read the Wired story and this is an example of great American inventiveness bypassing the legacy automotive industry that wants to protect it's territory and possible stake in big oil. Ford was a big innovator, but his poor grandson has to uphold a legacy company and restrict innovation.

I think the excitement and romance of the powerful Tesla sports car will set a new image for electric cars. When the make the sedan I am sure it will be a hollywood hit for awards and event s- to show up in. Next they should make a Bentley GT like coupe.

I would like to see another boutique brand created for affordable small cars to give the Prius a little competition. This will show them that they don't really need to spend all the complex research on Hybrid Synergy systems (same with GM, BMW alliance) Just let the combustion engine go.

The almost solid state simplicity of an electric car captures your imagination in an almost utopian way. I guess at this point the big thing holding us back is the battery technology! How do you see this changing in the next two years?

nick

7:38am | Jul 20, 2006

Sorry, but I can't find a connection with your Tesla roadster
and the tesla motor patent.
The original Tesla car was supported by radio electricity,
not by batteries.
I think that Tesla roadster is only a name for an interesting
electric car. The original Tesla car is much more..
Nick
Italy

tyler

7:40am | Jul 20, 2006

Way way cool! The electric Car I've wanted since forever!
Several reactions/comments/suggestions:

1) the biggest hurdle when trying to buy a roadster for a guy with a family, in my experience, is that even though this would be "my" car, wife complaint number one is that there is no way to carry the kids in a pinch. Porsche Carrera has those little back seats which would serve this need. Please consider a future modification that would pass this "filter" to purchasing! (yes, I'll buy the sedan for the family car, but I want the roadster for me! :-)).

2) that big battery box behind the passengers gives me pause - what happens to it in an accident? Lot of mass that would want to move forward towards the passengers if you hit something in front. Structure around it is not clear from website. Not much discussion of safety on your web site actually. Be a good area to expand upon (air bags, anti-lock breaks etc).

3) How have you dealt with the issue of LiIon heating during heavy discharge/charge? This is the much-talked about "issue" with them. MIT has a researcher who is using Nano-material approaches to increase surface area and reduce this, but not ready for prime time yet (apparently).

Thanks for showing that making a car like this CAN be done! I want one!

Martin, I've been hearing good things about Tesla Motors for the past few years and am very excited for your company and future customers. The price hurdle is no doubt large, and will hopefully drop in a few years, but this will not deter hard-core auto enthusiasts like me. I can't wait to haul a$$ on skyline without the guilty feeling polluting the environment.

Thank you!!

- MikeG

AK

8:04am | Jul 20, 2006

Hi Martin,

You have an absolute gem on your hands. I'm living in Phoenix, AZ and I can't wait to test one of these out in the hot-hot desert weather and see if it holds up! I'm sure it will. Keep up the work. There is finally an answer to those who say electric cars are not for red-blooded men with adrenaline pumping speeds. Thank you!

AK.

Michael Lawson

8:06am | Jul 20, 2006

Congratulations on achieving something that many of us dream about.

And thanks for giving us a bright vision of the future.

David

8:07am | Jul 20, 2006

Martin - this is a great an important step forward in the battle to shift from the antiquated internal combustion engine. Well done for believing in the electric car and converting: "it should be possible" into a showroom masterpiece. All the best to you and your team and good luck!

I think this is a great concept car. Tesla reminds me of John Hammond in Jurassic Park... "Spared No Expense".

By combining quality with technology you have seemingly delivered the unfathomable.... an electric roadster. However, I need to remind you that the big oil has successfully stalled the production of many electric cars. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

I shall eagerly wait to see the upgrades you'll make to this model.

Here's what I like about the car (of course I've not driven one, so can't comment on handling / performance):

1. Interiors look too simple... (perhaps Tesla logo embossed onto the seat headrests, passenger airbag)
2. Considering that this is an electric car, you could definitely use a larger LCD display and mount it more prominently… like say…. Acura.
3. How about a backup fuel-cell? No offenses… 250 mpg is great, but I’d hate to halt every 3 hrs to charge my car…
4. I guess I might have to install a special 220V 70Amp outlet in my garage to charge this car… but again I understand this car is not for everyone.
5. Top speed: 130mph will save lives… but for $80,000 I’d want my car to do 180mph

All being said, perhaps I might trade my Porsche for this baby someday. Congrats & Godspeed!

Jayant Marathe

8:15am | Jul 20, 2006

Mr. Eberhard,

Here is the post I made today at netscape.com in their discussion group on the subject of Tesla car.

**********************************************************************
This is the news I was waiting for, for years!

Hmmm...250 miles range per charge. That has to be the tipping point. The psychological barrier -fear, maybe?= for getting caught without power was the main reason for people for not embracing EV1 and the likes. The hybrids on the other hand are the essential first step towards a totally clean and green electric car.

Rome was not built in a day! So, it will be a while before the technology of Tesla car is proven, and enough units sold to cover the enormous R & D costs, that the prices will come down from stratosphere to earth.

I must congratulate the geniuses behind this project. They definitely deserve the Malcolm Baldridge Award.

Keep up guys, godspeed to you. I will be keenly watching your progress!

****************************************************************
Bravo! A brilliant idea executed with brains and brawn. Your white papers are a must read for anybody who wants to know anything about environment-friendly transportation.

I was very impressed with the thought process and problem solving approach as presented in the write-up.

Equally brilliant is your success of bringing together people who walk the walk and talk the talk when it comes to environment.

I think you guys are going to succeed beyond belief.

Is a 4- or 5 seater, minivan or a similar More-Than-Two-People vehicle in the works?

I wish you the very best of success!!!!!

Lex Thompson

8:16am | Jul 20, 2006

I'd like to congratulate you on producing a product that thrills me to no end. It's so exciting to see something this worthwhile come out my old stomping grounds (the Silcon Valley). I had been wondering if anyone would do justice to the new emerging technologies by producing a fuel efficient car that is visually stunning and a joy to drive. It appears that you have nailed it! I can't wait to see these machines out here in Hawaii.

I have one question for you though. Have your engineers addressed shielding the occupants of the car from the electromagnetic field that a powerful electric motor and its associated electronics emanate?

Finally, someone is getting it right! Put me down for purchase... I want to own one.

Will Cork

8:18am | Jul 20, 2006

This Car looks absolutely amazing! Cant wait to see a pricing guide. Id be interested to see what the power consumption would be at 100+mph.

Ben

8:22am | Jul 20, 2006

Looks like a very interesting vehicle! I'm a mechanical engineer and I've been watching with great interest the progress that's been made with electric cars. I do have one comment however, I don't know what standing Lotus has in the US but here in Europe and in the UK in particular it is known for producing cars that are amazingly agile and fun to drive. Therefore I'm surprised you haven't focused more on the collaboration with Lotus with regards to design and chassis engineering, as the prospect of driving a battery powered Lotus is one that will surely have eco-friendly car enthusiasts falling over themselves with excitement! I know I sure can't wait to see one of these cars on the road in Europe!

Randy

8:23am | Jul 20, 2006

WOW....what a beauty.

My first question, of course, is expected price?? Will any of us normal people be able to afford one or is it only affordable to folks with a 6 figure income?

I assume you don't mention price any where on the web site it is the latter.

Miki

8:25am | Jul 20, 2006

This looks like a very nice car. I'll be interested in knowing how much the final price will be. I'm surprised that Tesla motors dose not spend any effort describing the reason why they chose to use a Lotus Elise as their work bench. In fact aside from the drive train, this is mostly an Elise re-dressed. In fact Tesla could stand to profit from even selling the body shell for those who want an Elise body with a different look.

W Patrick Murphy

8:26am | Jul 20, 2006

I have an interest being in the Fort Lauderdale area but do you have a ballpark price?

Kyle

8:26am | Jul 20, 2006

I have been saying for a while that electric cars are truly the future in terms of existing in the emerging anti-foreign-oil economy and with the looming effects of global warming. This is primarily because of the "true multi-fuel" concept with EVs. I am really pulling for a big interest in this car from those that can afford it now, so that Tesla can afford to develop more mainstream models, and I can eventually afford one for myself!

tux

8:33am | Jul 20, 2006

Amazing car! How much of the mechanical parts are off-the-shelf components? Will you have enough service center to service them? Do you plan to offer a four-seater?

This is fantastic! I am teacher at Carl Hayden High School in Phoenix, Arizona and I am a sponsor of the Science & Technology Club. In the club we have been involved in a great many things, including building and racing full sized electric cars! Our website has much of this info. done robotics, catapults, Ham radio, and underwater robots. We will be studying your website extensively. Before Tesla, we have been learning from AC Propulsion, and the T-Zero. We are very excited that you are pushing electric cars out into the public conciousness again and doing it with style! I really hope they catch on this time. When we used to do electric racing in the APS Electrics and the Solar & Electric 500, we thought that electric would catch on. The price of oil stayed low so the public lost interest. Maybe now is the right time. Good Luck! My only regret is that on a teacher salary, I will never be able to get a Tesla Roadster! I can't wait to see one in person, or maybe test drive one! Take care!

You hit all the right buttons for me. Of course, I'm a lunatic fringe car enthusiast, so arguably that's not important--better to hit the buttons for folks that are a little more mainstream. And oddly enough, I think you are doing that, too. Starting with an image vehicle (allowing higher pricing and quicker cost recovery) and moving to a mid-lux sedan is brilliant. I like everything you are doing.

Where before I saw EV's as a stopgap, as a temporary measure to use until something better comes along, you've made a great case (both business and engineering) for why it should be the final stop in personal transportation. Simply astounding, and astoundingly simple!

I've been involved in sales-technology software integration for the automobile industry for 21 years, and I silently weep at how badly tangled and mangled the business model has become for automobile manufacturers, as well as their dealers. Yes there are bright spots, but the biggest problem is their own legacy. The industry would need decades to do what you've done in 3 years. New thinking, new marketing, and (yep) new attitude. So I am as impressed by Tesla the company as I am by Tesla the car.

And regarding the car...I'm a serious sports car enthusiast, with a couple SCCA national championships under my belt. I work a few weeks a year training engineers for one of the major manufacturers to teach them to drive fast, safely, so that they can better understand what they are engineering. It seems that most manufacturers view performance as a series of metrics, numbers and nothing more. It looks like you've got the attitude I dreamed a car manufacturer should have--performance as it relates to the joy of driving. It's easy to get excited about that aspect of Tesla alone, and overlook the the value of a smaller ecological footprint and a sustainable transportation model.

Owning and driving a car engineered for complete driving enjoyment, a car that also pulls the planet forward to where we must go...what a concept!

Again, congratulations on your initial launch! I'm sure I speak for many when I say, I'm just blown away!

Being a EV maniac for over 30 years I'm gratified to see this beautiful car being produced. I'm in the process of converting my 1985 Toyota MR2, designed by Lotus, into a EV. I think you guys have done it right. I would love to have been able to measure is the Pucker Factor the big auto companies excutives must have felt when they saw the Tesla.

You have made the rich folks happy, now what about the rest of us who struggle with the gas prices, and the look alike "affordable" cars. We love to drive too! But we don't have to do 130 mph, or go from 0-60 in four seconds. Take your design and tune it down, put in four seats, give us a speed of 90 mph and 0-60 in 8-10 seconds and a range of 250 mikes and you won't be able to build them fast enough! You will go down in history as being the company that did the most to improve the world!

I would like my name on the top of the list for the four seater !!

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Steve Richardson
Glendale, Oregon

I

Sumer Bais

8:39am | Jul 20, 2006

This is really good indeed to read about this car in Indian news papers. Wish you all the best and looking forward for more news.

John Noren

8:45am | Jul 20, 2006

What price range are these cars going to fall into?

jeremy

8:46am | Jul 20, 2006

I am glad to see what it finally looks like! I am very interested in EV's and I think there is a bright future for Telsa. The first thing that comes to my mind is what the cost will be. Are we talking 911 turbo price or Lamborghini Gallardo? Or even better Lotus Elise (which by the way looks very similar)? I realize there will have to be large production numbers in order for it to be affordable ... So how long will I have to wait?

I am also curious what it sounds like. No matter how fast it is or how sexy it looks, if it sounds like a 5 year old's remote control car I'd feel like a dork. I am also wondering why it looks like there is an exhaust in the pictures. What is that about? Is that just a muffler to calm down the roar of a silent battery?

Anyway, great idea, great website and I can't wait to see one in person!

jn,
fort collins, CO

Dan Dimitrijevic

8:47am | Jul 20, 2006

To see this 100yr old idea come through is a treat, the car looks great on paper. Will you allow one of the car mags to test it once you start selling them?

I am so excited to see the Tesla (Dark Star) being developed for production. With the threat of high gas prices and the ever growing problem of global warming, it just makes sense. I have been a small investor in fuel cell technology companies and try and keep abreast of the the latest technologies. I hope your company and product takes off and becomes the next Honda of the the automotive industry. If you need suggestion of start up cities, then Atlanta GA is the ideal place. With the ever growing population +4 million and the number of automobiles on the roads, I am certain fellow drivers would jump at the opportunity to own one of these with the hope of a breath of fresh air and knowing that those days of smog alerts are coming to an end.

P.S. I love lotus designs, great choice.

rob

9:00am | Jul 20, 2006

At last! An electric car which satisfies the car enthusiast and proves electrics don't have to be boring! I can't wait to learn more over the next few months and hope to join the revolution. I'd like to say congradulations on a job well done! A couple questions remain: will the cost be prohibitive for the average consumer (I've seen numbers batted around the 80,000 mark) which may kill the cars appeal. Secondly you state no maintenance which is true to a point. After the batteries have run their life you state the owner car return the car to replace the batteries. But at what cost? From what I found so far it seems that batteries are close to half the cost of the car. Do you expect battery technology to progress enough in the next few years to reduce the manufacturing costs for this car and to allow the batteries to be replaced economically.

Thanks again for a great product and you have myundying admiration for taking on such a quantam leap in autmotive engineering!

Sincerely,

Rob Bayan

Dvorak

9:04am | Jul 20, 2006

Now, that's what I call a fascinating concept.
Good luck, Martin, and please keep us informed how the development proceeds.

Sam D'Amico

9:08am | Jul 20, 2006

I want to thank-you guys for finally getting it right. I saw in one of your interview's that you are marketing to the rich. Fantastic.... they have the funds to help support and advance such technologies. Remember electric windows and air-conditioning all tech that was introduced in luxury cars, today any car can have air-conditioning or power windows. Keep up the good work. Hope to see you in Canada very soon.

henry

9:08am | Jul 20, 2006

I am really intrested in this product and look forward to testing one out down here in Miami Fl.
This country needs to start acting on our independence from Big Oil.

Iso Grifo

9:08am | Jul 20, 2006

The one argument I have heard against electric vehicles is that we use more energy to make the electricity required for the car than the car would use with a conventional motor. In addition, in Southern California they can hardly keep their houses fully powered up. So what happens when everyone in the US is driving around in an electric car? Wouldn't we still have the same issues, just maybe located somewhere else (ie. pollution by the power stations instead of on the freeway)?

maksa

9:10am | Jul 20, 2006

Glad that someone finally (heard about one car in Japan) are actually is using all the advantages of AC multiphase motor for personal transportation. All the hybrids that I have tried were "blazingly" (and unacceptably) slow in acceleration, unlike any electric motor I have ever seen.
Being Serbian and electronic engineer, knowing a lot of Nikola Tesla's history and achievements, it pleases me that you have chosen that name (and of course his motor) to go with. With the help of microprocessors and high power electronics (not available to N. Tesla) you have left "the box" and did something good for everybody.

Our weakest link are still the batteries, even lithium-ion, but technology is going further every day, advancing in giant steps and comparing the lead acid and lithium-ion would be like comparing the torch and laser diode. And who knows what tomorrow is bringing.

In hopes that your bussiness will expand (hopefully in Canada in forseable future), that battery price and weight will go down ($/Joule) and that this will not be your only model,
sincerely...

Nick Park

9:10am | Jul 20, 2006

I will undoubtedly never be able to purchase one of Tesla's vehicles, (never say never!) but after reading through all the materials, even the most technical diagrams and well-to-wheel efficiency calculations, all I can say is "GENIUS." I even found myself incredibly interested in the Nikola Tesla history on the Wikapedia website. Thanks for the link and thanks for the innovation. Your execution and vision are highly contagious and from a marketing standpoint very viral. I can't help but admit total admiration. -Nick

What could be an interesting future topic is an analysys of past EVs and what was wrong with them (and what was right).

Peter Coppa

9:14am | Jul 20, 2006

Have you talked to A123 systems about their new batteries. Supposedly these fellas developed a new battery that has some incredible performace measures. I wanted to know if you were employing such technology. OTherwise the Car looks hot. I don't like the charge time but I am sure it will only improve as the technology improves. I doubt I can afford one now but one I will be able to. Thank you for pursuing this. Its an inspiration.

Mark Morehead

9:15am | Jul 20, 2006

Thank you for designing an electric vehicle that an engineer and car enthusiast can love. The chassis looks beautiful, the torque/RPM curves are amazing, and the range is acceptable. I like that you looked beyond the efficiency of an induction motor to recognize and exploit its other advantages. I also really appreciate the full well-to-wheel analysis for energy efficiency and CO2 emissions in the white paper. It is frustrating to be forced to search for the numbers needed to assemble a full system efficiency for other ‘zero-emission’ vehicles.

When should we expect the dimensions, curb weight and breaking specifications?

Matt

9:15am | Jul 20, 2006

Thanks for bring neo-environmentalism to the next level

Ryan

9:17am | Jul 20, 2006

Hello Martin, Just wanted to say Great job and effort your team has made thus far. Creating a Car that is not only environmentally friendly but also very beautiful is an arduous task in itself. After looking at the car I instantly said this “That’s an Electric Car?"
I showed a bunch of people around the office here pictures of the car and they all said it looks awesome. Then when I said “would ya believe is a fully electric car?”

no one believed me so I gave them the website address and a bunch of us were like, "Man id buy that, imagine the looks you get as you blast past someone with no exhaust sound!"
Keep it up, and for sure your site has been bookmarked, and I’ll also post a link to your site on my blog :) I’ll be checking back often.

Ryan.

Natebrau

9:19am | Jul 20, 2006

The idea of an electric car which isn't a punishment to drive is a fantastic one- I wish Tesla Motors the best, as I am a potential future customer.

Cost, as ever, is a big concern. I understand that to get started, somebody has to pay the initial startup costs before volume manufacture and newer technology pushes long-term costs down. Will there be a reduced-cost car, perhaps with half the range, perhaps with reduced features like no A/C at any point?

That aside, the roadster looks fantastic, and if it drives even half as well as claimed, I'm sure will be an out-of-the-ballpark homerun success.

david johnson

9:21am | Jul 20, 2006

Congradulations and thanks for building it! Our World needs this car.
I hope to be driving one in the near future!

A few comments:
Some important "technical specs" appear to be missing from the website, ie: Weight?
Has it been crash tested, and what are the results?
Has anyone done performance testing / reviews, ie: skidpad, 1/4 mile, braking, etc.

/tips hat
Give me 5 years, top's; and I'll be the proud owner of one of your fine vehicles... just take a look into world domination (or at least a London, you could beat congestion charges to death!).

Martin

9:23am | Jul 20, 2006

I find your vehicle concept fascinating.
Finally an electric car that has useable range. This is instantly a hit., and then you spoil us with sports car acceleration, easy charging, ipod connection, fantastic service intervals, the list goes on...
Its like finally my Xmas list has been read by someone who can actually make wishes come true.
I can see just one down side. I live in the UK !
Now as Lotus does the final build, i am guessing i could go to their factory and see these cars being transported away to those lucky US customers, but alas i am stopped from buying one myself.
Do you have any plans to sell these cars in the UK ?

David

9:24am | Jul 20, 2006

Interesting car, interesting idea, interesting company. Two questions...When is it coming to Canada? How do the batteries perform when it is really cold outside?

I think it's great what your team has put together, hopefully now we can start really thinking about gaining independence from foreign oil, and do our part to help save the planet. Good luck on your business model. However, I think the most important part of your work here is that big auto manufacturers will sit up and take notice, the internal combustion engine is no longer the only choice we have. I would love to drive the Tesla Roadster, but like many, I will simply admire it from afar, especially as I don't think I could keep up with it.

I would first like to congratulate Tesla Motors on the launching of this new and exciting vehicle. The Tesla Roadster is very impressive, style and performance wise. I have seen many EV's go down the hole, overlooked and crushed by the SUV craze. The Hybrids of today are very impressive and practical. They are great for the commuters, the grocery getters and the ones that believe in the technology. The Civic Hybrid, the Prius, the Lexus Hybrids, all great practical 4 door cars, but what about people like me? The avid sports car and motorsports enthusiast. There is the new Audi R10 Turbo Diesel LeMans prototype, but it's obviously not practical and not nearly affordable. The Tesla Roadster is the solution. Zero Emission in a vehicle that you can enjoy on the weekends to the beach, carving the corners through HWY 1, and even to and from your home to the office, while at the same time never emitting a single emission.

I will not be suprised that the Tesla Roadster will become the benchmark for sports cars in the future, for the street and in motorsports.

Justin Berkowitz

9:31am | Jul 20, 2006

What a phenomenal vehicle. Need an in-house lawyer?

Raj Tirbany

9:31am | Jul 20, 2006

love, love, love it!! just what so many have been waiting for !! congrats on a great job, guys!! Style and performance without compromising environmental/ecological responsibilities. Can't wait to see this thing in person!! In the meantime I'm gonna do what I can to get the word out (and start saving up)!

Mark Zamoyta

9:33am | Jul 20, 2006

Congratulations on this great product!

You talk about "advanced" lithium ion cells, however you don't make it clear what you mean by this. Do you mean "advanced" in that they're not metal hydride cells, or are they "advanced" as in a new advancement in lithium-ion technology? For example, do you use nanotech enabled cells from A123 Systems or something similar?

Too bad this car only has a 200 mile range. It won't let me take a trip from Los Angeles to San Diego, and I'd have to recharge every 2 hours driving to Las Vegas. Hopefully battery technology will advance quickly.

It's also too bad the batteries can only be recharged 500 times. If I recharge every night like your FAQ suggests, I'll have to replace the batteries every 18 months.

I think you need to factor battery replacement costs into your financial calculations. For example even though you're only paying 2.6 cents per mile, you're replacing your $15,000 batteries every 3 years, so in effect you're paying 17.6 cents per mile, or the equivalent of $5.28 per gallon of gas (compared to a 30 mpg car).

Despite the battery limitations, I think this car is a great step forward. Hopefully its success will spur greater technological advancements, and also push the big automakers to at least get plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) to market.

Vanderlei Cadore

9:35am | Jul 20, 2006

How are you? My name is Vanderlei Cadore, is Brazilian, lives in the State of the Rio Grande Do Sul, the city of Dom Pedrito, fronteiro with Uruguay. Well, always I imagined that the eletricos cars would go to change the world and to unpollute the half-environment and that the proper nature and the knowledge of the laws of the fisica if would put in charge to explain for the men as to make it without that let us maltreat the mother nature. I was astonished when I read on this project of electric car e, it forgives my ignorance, perhaps therefore already it knows of that I will be telling, perhaps can contribute with its project of an idea that always I had on a body in movement. We go that it interests: I read that its necessary battery to be recharged, being projected with lithium or another harmful component the nature, but I am certain of that makes it in safe way. Well, my tip is on the laws of the fisica and that perhaps, for the complete unfamiliarity of the theory, I can say some bobagem, but I wait that it understands what I want to say to them. If all body in movement generates energy, I thinks that the car is a taken body of clean energy and, not pollutant, excluding combustivel that it is used in it, then, goes for the electric energy. Already it thought with if it generates energy in a hidroelétrica plant? I already, therefore already worked inside of one. As I think that the process occurs: the water is that it makes the pressure in the turbines so that this enters in movement, generating great gravitational force, consequentemente eletrica energy, more details the engineers can explain better. Now we go for the car. Already it thought which part of the car generated greater I number of movements for second, beyond the turn of the engine? One is about a external component to the engine... Yes, the wheels, the tire, its system that allow the car if to put into motion with easiness. The will can laugh... But all fantastica creation made by the man already was absurd some day. But it sees well, if a necessary hidroelétrica plant of a great turbine to generate thousand of megawatts of energy, I believe that through the wheels of the car and a turbine can pernamente generate the energy when in movement so that this twirls thousand of kilometros without recharging it. How it would make? I find that until brake records they could become in electric power plants, the gears, the rolamentos, because not to create a pipe between the wheel and system of movement that generate small attritions with some metal or type of fiber carbon or something super resistant to the attrition that could order energy the battery that the energy stores it car to be able to bind and if put into motion? Well, I find one in such a way maluco also, but if to be alone in my head nobody will be able, if to function, to usufruct of this wonder of the nature. If to give certain. I will be happy in improving the world and unpolluting the nature. A great one I hug! I am Latin, aguenta however... Vanderlei Cadore P.S. Excuse the English, I had to translate.

Just read the article in Wired and your story and message are inspiring - the sports car market seems like the perfect place to start perfecting EV technology for the masses. The world needs more forward-thinking, conscientious companies such as Tesla. Looking forward to reading this blog regularly.

Have you considered asking one of your engineers to blog? I'd be very interested to check it out, and I'm sure a lot of your more technical readers would love to fire some questions Tesla's way (such as: have you considered ultra/super capacitors to handle the peak power output of acceleration/deceleration? I always thought they would be a perfect fit for an EV... let the caps handle spikes in power use, allowing only gentle cycling for the batteries.)

Congratulations on your rollout! I'll forgive you for "dissing" the EV1 on your "charging & batteries" page; it was anything but a "punishment car," and had plenty of range for most folks' real-world driving without worry, but your lovely little addition is leaps and bounds beyond. The one unforgivable flaw the EV1 had, for me, was that you couldn't actually buy it, only lease it, so it was never more than three years from a date with the crusher. You could, if you like, trumpet the fact that the _drivers_ will own your cars, not you! I hope to be a customer in a couple of iterations, when the price is less than my annual salary, but I of course understand that starting at the top of the market, with a product that meets those folks' (high) standards, is a much better way to grow the company for the long term.

By the way, the URL for the former EV1 page listed as a reference on that "charging & batteries" page is

Except for the last link, that is, which is from late 2004 after GM redirected all gmev.com traffic to gmability.com (more like gminability.com!). If you go to a gmev.com address these days, it takes you to a posting on GM's FastLane blog from June 23, 2006, written by Dave Barthmuss; he was their mouthpiece defending the crushing of the EV1s, and here he responds in that capacity to the current movie "Who Killed the Electric Car?" Pretty pathetic to read; I am glad to see that you are making such a splash _resurrecting_ the electric car! (Just get the price down quickly--I said I "understand", not that I'm "patient"!)

What is interesting about the Tesla is that it is marketed like an Mac.

Similar word-feel, similar attitude. Good work guys.

It strikes me that there will be a disruptive shift in the next few years as cars move from mechanical machines to becoming another form of consumer electronics.

That will be a disruptive event. In that world GM might as well be Univac. Ford might get away with being DEC. Toyota is smart enough to get away with being HP. Who will be the new Apple?

Remember, the first Taiwanese-designed MP3 players were horrendous.

It took Apple design savvy and cheap Chinese manufacturing to make the iPod work, and this created one industry while destroying another. Why not a car >by

Brendan Miller

9:44am | Jul 20, 2006

Finally someone gets it! Build a car based on Lotus' foolishly ignored chassis technology, state of the art AC drive-train technology and the latest reliable lithium battery technology. Oh yeah, and make it LOOK GOOD for a change! If all goes as planned, this car will be the "HD TV" of cars. The revolution many have been waiting for. Sure the price will be considered high to most at first, but the market is still there. This is, assuming that this won't be Venturi-Fetish-buy-the-whole-movie-theater high. If the car can be kept around $80-$100K, I bet they'll sell, and quantities of scale will push the price down and make this work long term, opening this to a much wider market. It's nice to see that you've really done your homework on this one and planned a car that will both technically work and is desirable – a real breath of fresh air in the EV world. Can't wait to hear more about it!

Sohail

9:45am | Jul 20, 2006

Wow guyz great job, id really like to know a price range as well. This looks freakin awsome.

Charlie McClain

9:49am | Jul 20, 2006

Martin

I hope you will develop a manufacturing model worthy of your brilliant engineering. If suggestions are welcome, think modular! Modularize components - body, chassis, propulsion, battery pack - and sub-contract them with maximum competitive bidding for highest quality/lowest cost. Final assembly should occur as close to the customer as possible - even at the dealer - to avoid the pitfalls of massive industrialization. If you can do this you'll be able to keep your structure extremely flat and efficient, focusing on innovation rather than empire-building ala Ford, GM, Microsoft, and various other dinosaurs.

Good luck!

Charlie McClain

Christopher

9:53am | Jul 20, 2006

I am just amazed and excited about this car, and I think that Tesla Motors should be applauded for bringing a truly viable electric car to the road. It shows what a company can do if it's truly committed to bringing automobiles into a new era. Awesome job!

Perhaps this is premature, but do you have any future plans to design and sell other vehicles such as a sedan?

charlee mcclellan

9:59am | Jul 20, 2006

Congratulations on your unveiling. I no longer have to hate the automobile, knowing what it's future is. Brilliantly done.

Timothy

10:00am | Jul 20, 2006

CONGRATULATIONS!

I'm a former owner of a gas guzzling sports car which got 9 mpg because I love performance (460hp - 500 ft/lb torque)! Now I drive a Toyota Prius because I need efficiency and want to do my part. This however, will allow me to have the best of both worlds....thank you. Would love to know when it might be for sale in the Portland, OR market. Thanks again, I applaud your vision and courage to get into an industry that obviously is slow moving and usually spits out the "little guys". One last thing, I love the Lotus Elise and am assuming at least on eof your automotive partners is Lotus. Very light chasis and similar styling cues....smart. I actually prefer your design to the Elise.

Timothy B.
Portland, OR

charlee mcclellan

10:01am | Jul 20, 2006

I won't be able to afford the Roadster any time soon, but how about a Tesla motors T-shirt?

Phil

10:15am | Jul 20, 2006

Awesome!!
We can finally be cool and nerdy at the same time!
I really love seeing a scientist's name on back of a sports car. Not to mention a car that is at/near the top of it's class in both fuel efficiency and performance.
Booyeah!!

doug

10:15am | Jul 20, 2006

Very exciting! But I do wonder about the safety and CRASH WORTHINESS of using Li-ion battery technology. Especiall en-masse. Those cells can cook off spectacularly when only slightly damaged. Like fireworks! I'd love to see how this is being addressed in the design (as I'm sure it must have been) -- but there's no mention of it in the FAQ section. I'm also just as sure I'm not the first person to ask this question. I really hope that the reason this issue isn't referenced anywhere on this website, is not because it's a potential "achille's heel" for this car.

Having followed the Tesla announcements with great anticipation, I am thrilled to discover that your product exceeds my high expectations.

It's an incredible and yet utterly sensible fusion of dozens of good ideas - the focus on performance, the power controller design, the motor design, the commodity components, the global product development team, the battery economics, the Silicon Valley culture of innovation. You even got the aesthetics right! It makes me proud to see that engineers in America still have something to teach the world.

The product launch is incredibly timely as well. The auto industry is in need of disruptive change, and I hope this "electric shock" will act as a defibrillator.

How will the Tesla vehicle change the world? It seems to be much more than a fast car - it's a great product. A good product offers superior performance and value. A great product, however, presents an experience so compelling that it reformulates industries, markets, legal systems, social norms, and the individual's relationship to his or her community.

You've created an example of what talented and conscientious innovators can do to alter the course of history. I hope your example inspires others with insight and passion to take on the serious and enduring problems of the world. Thank you.

-Paul Yarin, Blackdust Design

Craig E.

10:36am | Jul 20, 2006

Nice Job. The reality of the big 3 Auto manufacturers is that this is a game changing technology that they are resisting to the very end. Think about it. Without even considering their ties to big oil, consider this. The electric car needs no maintenance! Look at any dealership. Where does half of their income come from? The parts and maintenance! The tune ups, parts, oil changes. With an electric car you kill half their business. Then add that a properly built electric can last MUCH longer that an ICE car and now you don't buy cars as often either. This kills their whole industry model. That is why they shredded all of those EV1's.

On another note, I'm sure you have visibility to these guys, but this could be an incredible addition to your car. If the independent testing proves that this works, you could replace the Lion batteries with one of these and lose 600 pounds of weight (400 vs. 1000 now) and drastically reduce the cost (my guess is half the cost or more is batteries). I would buy a $30-40k version of this with 600 less pounds (better performance, greater range) in a heartbeat. Good luck.

This is one very cool car. Not just the looks, either. Everything. I can only hope that you will be expanding your dealers to other areas around the country, including the Twin Cities, where I live.

Perhaps you could address that issue at some point -- does your company have longer range plans to make the Tesla or the follow-up sedan that was mentioned in some of the media articles available in other regions?

What is interesting about the Tesla is that it is marketed like a Mac.

Similar word-feel, similar attitude.

It strikes me that there will be a disruptive shift in the next few years as cars move from mechanical machines to becoming another form of consumer electronics. That will be a disruptive event. In that world GM might as well be Univac. Ford might get away with being DEC. Toyota is smart enough to get away with being HP. Who will be the new Apple? The first Taiwanese-designed MP3 players were horrendous. It took Apple design savvy and cheap Chinese manufacturing to make the iPod work. Why not a car by Apple? If it's in the realm of consumer electronics, why not? Who gives a crap about the engine if the engine is a commodity and the batteries are too?

The price point of the Tesla depends more on Dell than on GM, as it is driven by the economies of scale that come with the manufacture of Li+ batteries. It's different. Not sure if it's better, but it is different. And for the masses this is where Chinese manufacturing and American savvy can win. Improvement in engines and automobile technology operate at a telecoms-like snails pace, not surprising, since both have their origins in mechanical and electrical engineering (mechanical cross-point switches were literally clockworks).

Cars as personal electronics? Much faster development cycles, much more lean manufacturing, and the potential of Moore's-law effects. The next technology revolution is the car.

Steven

10:44am | Jul 20, 2006

You have made tears of joy come to my eyes!
There will always be a place in my heart for my Honda EV Plus,
may she rest in peace, but now I lust for a Tesla Roadster!
This time they will not take her away!
Sign me up!

1) Thanks
2) Let's see the trunk.
3) Do we get to avoid paying parking meters?
4) Can we drive in the HOV lanes in CA?
5) Were these the same batteries that BAT (now defunct Costa Mesa electric car company) created and won Pike's Peak with?

The complete package. Stunning looks and fantastic performance combined with a disruptive change in emissions and efficiency!

It's about time entrepreneurial spirit combined with Sand Hill funding and dot.com engineering talent to overcome some of our oil dependence without demoting us to mind-numbingly boring, corporate numbskull designed EV's! Or silly "Hybrids" which appease guilt but are only marginally more effecient than conventional petro-engines.

Oh, and I’ll take mine in Obsidian black!

Mark

10:58am | Jul 20, 2006

Awesome! I’ve been hoping this day would come soon and I’d like to give everyone at TESLA a BIG high five!! You’ve identified and produced the greatest disruptive technology that could hit the automotive industry today. I believe it is imperative for a startup to target the high end performance market which has the consumer base ($$$) to increase volume and thus reduce battery, carbon fiber, and motor manufacturing cost while providing excellent margins that will support a growing company.

I’d like to encourage everyone at Tesla to continue innovating and getting products to market with a greatest sense of urgency. It looks like you have a salesman’s dream product that would be a joy to sell. I look forward to the marketing campaign that will make the Roadster successful in today’s market!

I don’t expect to see a Roadster on the roads in Kansas City too soon but if I had the cash I would sign up quick. Kansas City is a city in great need of electric vehicles because of the large land area and low population density. There are few good mass transit options and the large area also means longer commutes (My commute is 55 miles round trip but I do carpool which is rare here). Also contributing to our need is the over abundance of trucks and SUV which everyone thinks they need, although I rarely see more than one person in the vehicle, let alone any cargo. Our additional transportation requirements and the chemical and manufacturing base in the area also contributes to a very poor air quality per capita. From an energy stand point we could be one of the hardest hit cities if it came to an oil shortage situation.

There is still a great need for general transportation and I hope your White Star product will meet these demanding expectations. (Range ~ Cost ~ Performance ~ Seating/Cargo Capacity) It is clear to me that you should be able to create a battery electric 5 passenger sedan that has similar range, slightly higher cost (higher margin for the company), and similar performance to currently available gasoline and diesel sedans with the clear advantage in energy input cost for the consumer. In tomorrow’s market, once the first oil shortage hits, your cars will be the clear consumer choice and in the current market they are more than competitive.

I really wish there was a company like yours in the Kansas City area, where I could contribute to one of the solutions to the greatest problem facing our civilization. Thanks again for your vision and effort! My wife and friends will be happy to here that there are real viable solutions to the coming (or current?) energy crisis.

Jonathan Giszczak

11:00am | Jul 20, 2006

In looking at the history of electric vehicles, I have to agree that the designers didn't believe in transportation for individuals. The malaise extended even deeper than the engineering design teams, however. One only has to look to that most unfortunate name for a vehicle, the GM Impact, to see just how much the gasoline motor vehicle industry dislikes the very idea of an electric car. I'm overjoyed to see a brand new car company, free of the baggage of history, prejudice, and the interlocking finances of the status quo.

I live well outside your targetted markets, and I don't yet enjoy the level of financial success needed to purchase a Roadster, but I wish Tesla Motors the best of fortunes, in hopes you'll still be around when I can afford one.

Adam

11:01am | Jul 20, 2006

Wow - simply amazing. Congratulations!

Any plans to build something for those of us working in the non-profit sector? :)

Milhone Tosta

11:07am | Jul 20, 2006

I don't know if this has been answered already, but:

Can you / Will you install solar panels on your cars?

DR.EDSON ANDRE' JOHNSON D.D.

11:10am | Jul 20, 2006

dEAR tESLA MTOTORS.GREAT! FOR YEARS AS A ARCH tESLA FAN AND EVEN STARTIUNG A GLOBAL ENERGY INDPENDENCE DAY ON THE BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF NIKOLA TESLA(THJIS YEAR THE 150TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS BIRTH!) THE TYIME HAS COME FOR A TRUELY WORKABLE AND DESIGN WISE SMART LOOKING VEHICLE AS THE TESLA ROADSTER! CONTINUED GREAT SUCCESS! LET THE ELETRIC VEHICLE REVOLUTION BEGIN NOW WITH THE TESLA ROADSTER! DR. EDSO0N ANDRFEW' JOHNSON D.D. SUNLAND, CA.

DR.EDSON ANDRE' JOHNSON D.D.

11:15am | Jul 20, 2006

THE TESLA CAR\ IS A LONG OVERDUE ADDITION TO THE ALTERNATYIVE VEHICLE MARKET. NIKOLA TESLA(WHOS 150TH BIRTH ANNIVERSRAY WAS JULTY 10,2006) WOULD HAVE BEEN PROUD!EDSON ANDRE' JOHNSON D.D.,SUNLAND,CA.USA

Is there and electric car racing circuit? Racing has been a large contributor to sport car technology. Why not create or join an electic only racing circuit.

If I can afford one, I would like my next car to be your roadster. I currently drive a gas guzzling 911 964 c4. So much fun to drive, but when opened up, I feel guilty as I can actually see the fuel guage dropping.

spencer

11:56am | Jul 20, 2006

Congratulations! This is definitely very good news. How soon can we expect to see this wonderful looking vehicle in the SouthEast? More importantly, what is the listing price?
Thanks.

Danny Rice

12:05pm | Jul 20, 2006

Looks like a fun car. I am a sports car guys, have a 99 corvette. I like to drive and to race occasionally (autocross, road courses, drags, etc). You have said this car has sports car performance. Do you plan to prove it by putting on of these in an SCCA event series to compete head to head with other sports cars of a similar nature? This is a proven method for convencing the American performance car folks that a companies claims can be backed up in real life driving. Please do something like this, get the car on the track and prove it can compete as a sports car. If it performs, it will sell. If it performs and the price is comparable to similar performance cars ($40k to $60k, for corvettes, BMWs, etc.) I would buy one.

Solomon K.

12:06pm | Jul 20, 2006

I'm a young guy and I'm not near rich (YET!) but I'd dump a good chunk of what I do have in savings into investing in a company like this. Are you guys ever going to go public? I think this is going to be a phenomenon. WHEN you guys come out with a regular four door passenger car under 40K, I'll be there with cash in hand!

doug

12:07pm | Jul 20, 2006

Even if you're not borrowing from Tesla's patent, strictly-speaking -- it's still the PERFECT NAME for an electric vehicle (as audacious as Nikolai!)

Thomas

12:08pm | Jul 20, 2006

Hats off to you and your team. Reading the article in Wired made me feel like I was reading a chapter out of "The Innovator's Dilemma."

We all know the next paradigm shift won't come from the big automakers, they have too much invested in the status quo to produce anything that might undercut their profits. What better place to launch the next transportation revolution than the valley. If transportation technology can start moving on the same curve as computer and electronics technology, a solution to our oil addiction might be closer than we think.

Honestly, as battery and ultracap technolgy marches forward, once you can achieve a one hour charge time, then the last vestige of any objection to pure electrics will be removed. If I can get 500 miles a day, with a charge over lunch and another in the evening, I can even vacation with the vehicle.

I wish you and your company the best.

Tom H.

12:10pm | Jul 20, 2006

This car is an excellent first step. The 200 to 250 mile range is the most prohibitive spec. A car such as this seems to me to be one that people will like to take on the open road. Electric cars won't really catch on they are designed with swappable batteries and stations along the way where a battery can be exchanged for a freshly charged one. That scenario, much longer battery life, alternative electrical power source or while driving solar recharging are what is truly needed. I do think that people who have the need for a fabulous car to drive locally will be very interested in the Tesla Roadster.
Are there any possible future plans for an IPO or will the company be always privately held? If it is the former then I think that is great. If it is the latter then I think it is inevitable that the principle of your company will profit greatly when it is acquired by a larger company.
Congratulations on what sounds like a very satisfying and rewarding venture.

Saving the environment, a most noble of journeys, like any other journey starts with the first of many steps. To borrow from Martin's mantra, Saving the Environment, "It Should Be Possible.”

Rion

12:17pm | Jul 20, 2006

Well done. It looks like the first roadster that I will purchase is an electric one!
Let me just say, coming from a family who loves American made, muscle bound, road ripping, eye catching cars: thank you for providing for an amazing alternative.
The body design is beautiful.
The intersior is amazing.
The power and torque stats blow me away.

I can't wait to see what is next from you guys... Motorcycle? Sedan?

Stephen Theodore

12:18pm | Jul 20, 2006

Love the new and forward looking idea of the new Tesla car. Only drawback is that it would be difficult (or at least time consuming) to take it cross country due to recharge time of the vehicle. A possible alternative, or option of using a Tesla turbine to generate electricity could extend the range considerably. I realize this turns the car into a hybrid, but it does eliminate the problem of driving range altogether. If your interested in his turbine design please contact me at my wife's email. Hope the car is the most successful invention since alternating current.

Can you speak a bit on the handling aspects of the car? Certainly, the event of the last day was simply the first salvo, however, I would like to know how well the car makes use of its chassis. Perhaps at a future date, you could take the car to either Laguna Seca or Infineon Raceway for some shakedown laps? Given the performance focus of your team, I think it would be a bold statement to have the car's performance evaluated on a track setting.

Jason

12:22pm | Jul 20, 2006

I second the comment on opening this up to public investment! I certainly hope you go public, and earlier in your growth phase rather than later. Can't wait to take a test drive!!!

evonne

12:32pm | Jul 20, 2006

Beautiful work Tesla team. The lines are gorgeous and the performance looks to be suitable for a great start. I hope you're able to get a healthy start on the larger car markets soon, especially the sport vehicle and truck markets.

This tesla company uses the engine motors designed by nikola tesla, the cientist from 19th century?

If this is true, I would feel very confortable, because that guy was a restless, unrecognized genius! The tesla eletrical motors superior to anything else back than in 19th century...an it is still today...

I read his biography, and that man had something very important to say.

I meant to paste this link not the RU, think you already know state of the art and research in energy storage just want others to be enlightened, if not already.

Again Excellent work and never give up. Try to get your vehicles out to all the State Fairs and Autoshows. I will be buying when you are able to get me similar performance, range, style in my price range under 30k and take the wife and kids for a spin. Otherwise I would buy the two seater today if I could afford it.

Miki

12:40pm | Jul 20, 2006

Hey Ben, here is a response to your comment RE: why Lotus has not collaborated on this design (Ben wrote on July 20th, 2006 at 9:22 am) :
In fact the chasis is the same as Lotus Elise. Look closely and you can see lotus in the interior as well.

Paul

1:01pm | Jul 20, 2006

Named after Nikola Tesla, the greatest scientific mind that has ever lived.
The original Tesla electric car built by Nikola Tesla, did not require banks of batteries.
I look forward to electric cars, but I suspect that we will have to accept second rate technology. If devices which extracted energy "from the ethers" were allowed, the world would have unlimited cheap and clean power. Combustion fuels would be looked at as the horse and buggy. I will buy yours if the price is right. I currently do short errands on my electric bike.

Stephen Pearce

1:01pm | Jul 20, 2006

Well I have to say, “Good for you and way to go!!” I’m very proud of your team for coming out with this car. Are you planning to produce more cars? I would love to see an everyday car like the Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla type car? I just think that if you came up with those types of cars you really could take over the auto market. I know I can’t afford an $80,000.00 sports. But I could push for a $30,000.00 electric Civic.

Like I said good job and thanks for thinking of the environment.

Stephen Pearce

Howard Dunholter

1:15pm | Jul 20, 2006

I hope I wll be able to afford to buy your electric car. I drove for a few years the GM EV1 and liked it very much. It had a lead acid battery pack with limited range but it gave me all the range I needed for my driving requirements. If increased range is very expensive, should you give your custermers a choice of range in your cares?

Steve,
Tesla Motors is the best thing since Apple Computers, both of which I wish I had stock in. As soon as my finances rise or the car price lowers, I will absolutely purchase one of your vehicles. Sorry I can't swing it right now. Best of luck.

Finally someone who really think on our enviroment. This is the car I was dreaming and the dream came true. I just can't wait anymore. Please this is the solution for milions of people, make family cars and so on. You will be the first car company in the world in a short time.
When will Tesla be available in Italy?

Keep working everybody is waiting.

Adolph

1:48pm | Jul 20, 2006

Cool stuff,
That inlet on the bonnet of the car? Has been tested for
Arizona conditions? I doubt if it will help with the cooling
if it sucks in 120F of air in a Phoenix summer.

Richard N.

1:56pm | Jul 20, 2006

I want to be your SCCA Solo II driver!!
I live in San Francisco. PLEASE.

Need a sales guy?

Rick

1:56pm | Jul 20, 2006

Others here have stated it very well indeed:
It's great to see a NEW automobile company free of prejudices and bias toward/against electric cars.

I wish you all possible success.

I have looked but did not see a page of general specifications.... for instance, does the Tesla Roadster provide air-conditioning?
If so, how does A/C operation effect the vehicle's range and performance?

Stocks??? When??? Warranty?Other Models?(SUV's, Trucks, etc) and last but not liest, how does the accelerator feel when someone is parking? Did you come up with a speed control mechanism for this so you dont hit the car in front of you all the time? Hehehe... I hope you get to read this and answer it.

Thanks in advance,
Michael Diaz

Peter W. Senkowsky

2:47pm | Jul 20, 2006

I have been covering over 95% of my driving in the last five years in AC, DC, lead
and lithium electric vehicles, I congratulate you to your choice in componentry for
your electric sports car. I am convinced, I will be a huge success.
The only reason why I didn't buy an Elise yet, is because it was not electric.
I can't wait to come down and see it.

richard columbare

2:50pm | Jul 20, 2006

Your choice of a name for your machine is interesting. As Nicolai Tesla was known for his advances in a coil for storing large amounts of static electricity. Is there any connection?

Frank Eskew

2:54pm | Jul 20, 2006

Would love to have one, but will the average retirement income allow this to happen?

I am in amazement!!! When can I get one??? I was looking for the RAV EV when I bought my 2004 Prius.

Ralph C

2:56pm | Jul 20, 2006

Congratulations on what appears to be a Home Run! Here's hoping you can keep your eye on the prize and build a profitable, functional, and organizationally supportive infrastructure utilizing the same thoughtful and much-needed innovation.

To paraphrase an earlier blogger however, I do wonder about parts and "things" of limited life; Brakes, Shocks, Springs, Suspension Parts, Bearings, Wiper Blades, Light Bulbs (LED?) etc. Will parts be mail order? What about A/C maint., Window , Wiper , Washer or Fan Motors? How about Switches or Circut Breakers/Fuses? Are all these types of things covered by you? What's the expression? The Devil's in the details?
Love what I see though - I can't wait until you come to NY.

Bennet Pullen

2:58pm | Jul 20, 2006

I'm curious about the recharge times. You say it has a 200-250 mile range with a few hours charge time. How much additional range could I get out of say 1 hour of charge? The other day I put 280 miles on my car(without being on a road trip), so that makes your vehicle impractical for me. However, I did have a few 1 hour stops throughout the day, if I could partially charge up in those situations it would make the car much more desirable. It would be cool if you guys could create a chart showing miles of charge/hours charged, for when you don't have time for an overnight recharge.

Dave

3:04pm | Jul 20, 2006

This is the car I've been building in my head, Ah, my brain is now free. When can I test drive one?
I have been monitoring the EV drag-racing hoping that the technology would improve to the point you have now reached, NO exceeded. Congradulations I believe you have a winner!!!!
As much as I would like to have the Roadster I will be waiting patiently for the Tesla family ride.
As I am sure Detroit is paying attention to your progress I have two words of wisdom: DeLorean, and Tucker.

Good Luck

Rob Wilder

3:05pm | Jul 20, 2006

Lovely! We're passionate about Lotus and electrc cars -- I have a 1969 Super 7 Twin Cam, we're working on a plug-in hybrid ethanol/EV Mini Moke and soon an electric Lotus racing replica--so this car will be perfect. Because we're solar-powered with a 6kW system, a BEV like this could be run without fossil fuels. Tesla just makes sense.

Matthew

3:09pm | Jul 20, 2006

I love the car!!

Just a couple of questions: What is the curb weight? Weight distribution?
I read that you need a PIN number to start the car and I see there is a key port in the column. Do you need both to start the car or just the PIN number?

Either way i'm into it. Now all I have to do is find a spare $90,000. Hmmmm....

silence expirience is on the way...I want to listen more...energy.
beatiful, perfect far-sighted and solid automotive project.
why not thinking to export and sell also in Europe.
Time is coming.

Donald Black

3:11pm | Jul 20, 2006

Congrats, Can the electric vehicle be partially charged, and would the volts be 220 or 110, also single phase or three phase?
Thanks, Don

Keith Newton

3:16pm | Jul 20, 2006

The insightful research and comments complement the well done website and fantastic looking vehicle. I've been excited about the unveiling for some time now and it appears many others were too. The world has been waiting far too long for a "cool" vehicle in terms of its performance-looks-efficiency. I couldn't agree more with the "white paper's" insight into electric vehicles ability to allow our nation to choose the type of electric generation alternative fitting for the times whether its nuclear, wind or solar -etc.

Sign me up! Would you consider a program similar to the "work for food program"? It would be - I'll work for a Tesla... I'm in Los Angeles and I know the demand will outpace production in my area. You have my resume and I'm just waiting for the phone call. Put me in coach!

I can't afford $80,000
When you have a $30,000 model I will be interested.

DigitalBob

3:23pm | Jul 20, 2006

The answer to the crisis in the Middle East is to make ourselves energy independent and tell them to stuff their oil. A fast and sexy electric sports car will cause a tidal shift in how people think about the electric car .

All I can say is "wow...."

Keith Newton

3:31pm | Jul 20, 2006

P.S.

Oh yeah I forgot to add - I don't think anyone is more passionate about diversifying our nation's appetite for foreign oil than me.

Although I understand the upstream challenges of electric production, I served our country in Iraq and got to see first-hand the power oil has on an economy, its people, and ours. Bringing some control of our own "power" needs back into the US can only be a good thing.

Joshua Mize

3:34pm | Jul 20, 2006

I hope this is the disruptive technology that turns the American auto industry upside down. It's clean, practical, and most importantly, it is now. I'm a poor college student, but two or three models down the line, when this reaches $30-35k, I will be your first customer. I'd love to see this technology in a pick up truck, even a small one. You gotta throw something in the product line for the South. Thanks guys.

Nicholas

3:38pm | Jul 20, 2006

I think Tesla Motors is going to be ultra-successful. With the immense sales of hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius, Tesla Motors will be the car company that everyone has been waiting for. Think about it, when high-profile people are purchasing low-profile hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius (I mention the Prius again because of its success), there is huge potential for overwhelming success.

Love the name Tesla Motors. Great man. Great car. Great Idea.

I'll take two.

Kudos.

David

3:44pm | Jul 20, 2006

I knew I had been putting off buying a new car for a reason.

The car, of course, looks fantastic. And the "around $100,000" price quoted by Green Car Congress isn't bad either, considering. And you've done it without any serious technological breakthrough (not to discount your engineering accomplishments, which are also amazing). I predict you won't have any problem selling these little jewels. So, when are you going public as a company?

David Cooper

3:51pm | Jul 20, 2006

Bravo!!!

Gentlemen, You are what "America" is really all about... Taking a dream and building it!
Without you, we'd will be waiting at the pump forever and still taking a back seat to other
counties marquess.

Cheers and best wishes

Andrew Lewis

4:00pm | Jul 20, 2006

Where are the door handles? How about a cup holder for my coffee in the morning? Will you put stereo controls on the steering wheel?

I'm an advocate for EVs for all the reasons you have cited on your site. I also have the added insight of working for Noble Drilling as a Deck Officer on their drill rigs. The simple truth is that you will not find eco-corruption in such a large scale as the oil companies. Nothing would make me happier for your company to not only be sucessful, but for Southern California residents to show the rest of the country the future of personal transportation. EVs are the only answer to so many ills with ecology, corporate and polictical corruption and war.
EVs that use the same drive system as yours would be a real benefit to the power companies in leveling out peak loads. Since most homes now have computers and the internet, there is no reason the power companies can't employ sliding rates as dictated by demand. Loads could be activated at certain price points throughout a 24 hour day. When you return home at peak demand time, power could be as high as say $0.30 kw/hr, you would plug in your AC motor powered EV and run the house on it till rates dropped. When rates are at the lowest, your batteries would start charging.
I current;y have (3) vehicles, (2) are pure EV and the other is diesel. If I was still working in the oil industry, I could have afforded a Dodge Viper for my fun car but at the same price would buy the Tesla hands down, no contest. However, I gave up that income because the attitudes of the oil industry were at odds with mine in respect to politics and Earth. I would rent your car if given the option but am unable to justify buying it at this time. I will not buy another ICE period. Mitsubishi might have something in the $35~40K range in the near future that I would buy when available.
Keep up the good work guys, and when Bush is out of the picture, the EV climate will become more favorable.

Bob

Alexander Johnstone

4:07pm | Jul 20, 2006

Congratulations. You, I hope, are way of the future. I now have a new goal in life, namely to become successful enough to buy one of your cars:)

carl larsen

4:22pm | Jul 20, 2006

i love it....i am also 6'5" tall and 300 lbs. am i going to fit in it? it's way cooler than my 9-3 convertible..

kneedeep

4:27pm | Jul 20, 2006

Hi,

This is exciting..... I am wondering how the car performs on hills? Like going from S.F. to Lake Tahoe?

Tim Egan

4:37pm | Jul 20, 2006

I'm very excited about what your company is doing. I'm certain that you will have a huge backlog of people wishing to buy the Tesla Roadster. This will be a very high profile vehicle that will generate a lot of buzz. The market you've targeted is insightful. I hope that you spend a good amount of your resources on making this car even faster, a world beater. It's pretty close right now but let's leave no doubt. The electric motor has capabilities that not only excede that of an ICE but far excede it. You can make your car a source of embarrassment for Ferarri, Lamborghini, Porsche, et al. I think that is a worthwhile goal. It will have positive social ramifications.

First off congradulations on giving hope to people who love the environment and also performance. Secondly although this car will not be priced in range of the average consumer, you must realize when the first combustion engine cars rolled off factory floors that they were not either. Innovation is expensive. But the wealthy fuel the production which lowers costs to spread the technology down to everyone. It is cost prohibitive to get a flight to space for many these days but guess what, after the market is established then the price comes down. I equate this car to a spaceship and what the mainstream car market supplies us is a Fred Flintstone Special. Internal combustion engines, regardless of the fuel, need to be buried with the dinosaurs.

(BTW hopefully I can afford this someday soon, if the company is not bought-out and squashed into mediocrity.)

Jason Walker

4:56pm | Jul 20, 2006

YAY!

Finally someone is getting everything right.

I want an electric car because it’s BETTER. The environmental, petrol-political and economic benefits are just happy little side effects.

Love the performance.

Love the design.

Love the idea.

LOVE the name!!!

I’m a fellow EE and I’m still pissed about Tesla being left out of the history and science books. He gave us everything!

I've been a BMW groupie for a decade now, but this silent jet of a car makes me drool. I'd love to know how you re-charge it when you've driven 250 miles away from home. I'd also like to know how to order one of the first 100 signature models. I'm serious. I don't think BMW will be mad at me. So, how do I place my order? Thanks and thanks for being an inspiration.

Jh.Davis

5:06pm | Jul 20, 2006

Very, very impressive machine. The Lotus (engineering philosphy) connection puts it right in the sweet spot for this long time weight to power afficianado...particularly because you have addressed the one short coming of the Elise...its baroque body design. By eliminating the contorted scoops, dams and do-dads of the Elise, the Tesla slips into one very smooth groove.

roberto LEO

5:08pm | Jul 20, 2006

Same question of previous comment.
What is about the weight?

Everything else, from your site is fine. And your car will be successfull!!

Regards,

Tim Gibson

5:20pm | Jul 20, 2006

Love it! Congrats on a great website and the beginning of a dream....
As in the previous versions of the Telsa Electric Car Myth:
"We now have power"!
Let's Go! The World is watching...

Brett Oates

5:24pm | Jul 20, 2006

Firstly Congrats for getting your ideas to a "real stage".

A question from a simpleton, what is the power consumption per mile of the vehicle as related to say heating a 100 Litre electric water heater per day? The sceptic in me wants to beleive, but to cure my sinicism (sp) I would need to beleive that the capacity (and potential) exists in the current grid.

Good luck to you and your company

Brett, Tasmania Australia

joe dirt

5:24pm | Jul 20, 2006

how much?

julie

5:28pm | Jul 20, 2006

Take a look at this site -> http://www.quantumworks.com/L3Research.html
These guys seem to be on your same "drivers car" wavelength - their prototype proved the concept - I heard that they also plan to use Li-Ion battery pack, albeit smaller than the Tesla car - you guys shouls get together on this model !

julie

5:37pm | Jul 20, 2006

Oops forgot ... congratulations !! on getting the engineering and finances doen - now I hope you can sell a bunch of these to the rich as you stated ... in your plan.

Drew Winters

5:51pm | Jul 20, 2006

Love it! Well done to all at Tesla Motors.....

I am curious about much the accessories will cut down on the range though. No doubt the AC will suck up the juice on a scorching day, but here in the northern climates we also have to deal with the other extreme. I wonder how long a charge will last in February when the heater, lights, and wipers are all working their little butts off while we're stuck in traffic.

On the other hand, if the motor is generating heat anyway....hmmm, that's how 'conventional' cars keep ya warm.

Looking forward to the sedan too. Break more rules. Keep up the dream!

Bob

5:51pm | Jul 20, 2006

How do I invest in your company?

Jonathan

5:52pm | Jul 20, 2006

Where can I get a high resolution jpeg for my desktop?! this is great!

My first child was born on July 5th, and I named her Tesla ( http://www.akuaku.org/archives/2006/07/tesla.shtml ). I had not even realized that her namesake's 150th birthday anniversary was approaching, and now this comes out. I certainly know what make of car she's going to be asking for in 16 years!

Err, maybe you could have a discount for customers actually named Tesla? ;)

matthew

6:02pm | Jul 20, 2006

FINALLY!! The route to the masses through the top.
All things considered the electric cars are likely not yet the most pratical thing on the road so it is wise to sell to those who are less interested in functionality. You will find a large and ready market for what will be the coolest thing on the road.

Good luck.

Matthew, Kansas City

darren

6:05pm | Jul 20, 2006

Also love it. it's well out of my price range, but as a car enthusiast I have to say bravo. When you bring this technology to a $ 25,000 hot hatch ala GTI, Focus, A3 I'll be first in line. Meanwhile looking forward to watching the progress of your vehicle and company. Cheers.

Lithous

6:15pm | Jul 20, 2006

Reading all the comments I feel you have invented the equivalent of time travel! It seems like making the car a thousand pounds less than the EV-1 and using newer cell (lithium ion) technology (no matter how packaged) would give you 250 miles/charge compared to the EV-1's 130 miles/charge in it's last iteration.

Remember how the segway was going to change the world?

Angelo

6:23pm | Jul 20, 2006

Great!!
Electric car is no more a synonym for ugly machine.
I hope to see it soon also in Italy.
I love it.

Good luck.
Angelo
Rome, Italy

Detroiter

6:36pm | Jul 20, 2006

Mr. Eberhard,

As a native Detroiter from a Big 3 automotive background, I can state unequivocally that you should be commended!! GM created an innovative EV in the form of the Saturn EV1, but big business (auto & oil) prevailed and killed a good thing. Many good engineers, marketers and citizens with a conscience know that we must exit our dependency on oil, and you have created a viable solution. Can’t encourage you and your team enough – you have no idea how big the pool you have entered really is. God bless and good luck!!!

Darin Helfend

6:36pm | Jul 20, 2006

Looks great...but can it carry 2 golf bags?

Robert Ali

6:36pm | Jul 20, 2006

The three things I like about you and your company.
1) You are environmental heros.
2) You have excellent taste.
3) The name is perfect. Whoever thought of the name is a f*****g genius.

I hope you know how big what have is, and where your going to go with it.
Finally, I will line up with my wife to by your family version vehicle. Rock on!!!!!!!!

George Kirby

7:03pm | Jul 20, 2006

Thanks for the excellent and clear presentation on the advantages of electric vehicles in your white paper. Please distribute it widely to to our elected representatives!

Jeremy

7:05pm | Jul 20, 2006

Everything about the car is great other than the leather. I would think that a modern environmentally friendly car would forego the environmentally destructive caveman technology. I'm sure the car would be just as luxurious if it had
Alcantara in it.

Asia especially China is a very big market for your cars. Family sedan shall be taken into account for further range.

Congratulations to you and team again!

May a greater success.

Jeff DeWitt

7:40pm | Jul 20, 2006

Congratulations!

If this car is what it appears to be you people have really accomplished something and I wish you great success. It doesn't surprise me one bit that this car is coming from a group of folks like you and not out of Detroit or Tokyo.

Something you might consider, how about a stylish little trailer that would provide some much needed luggage space but more importantly contain a compact, efficient generator to keep the cars batteries charged (or at least help keep up the charge). That would enable the car to be taken on real road trips, and would in effect turn it into a hybrid.

Again, EXCELLENT job, and I wish you GREAT success, you've created an electric car this confirmed car guy would be happy to drive (if I can fit in it, I'm 6'3").

Jeff DeWitt

Simon Saivil

7:57pm | Jul 20, 2006

Congratulations and sincere wishes for spectacular success.
How will the car be heated in winter?

I'm amazed that the styling is getting all these raves, especially considering it looks like a cross between an Elise and a Ferrari, any Ferrari. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful car, but as far as the general public, do you actually think people will think it's that different? Isn't changing the world about more than just a somewhat dated body style being dropped onto an outragous technology platform? If Jonathan Ives would have penned this, well, that might make it worth while. A friend of mine has an Elise and though I'm not fond of those forms, I'm not of these either (especially the tired air intakes or flat tuck of the rear pillars in plan view) As a former trans designer, I'll wait for rev 2.0.

However, that does not dampen my enthusiasm or CONGRATULATIONS on bringing out something that Detroit (or Europe) can't. It's an Excellent accomplishment and everyone on the team should be justifiably proud! Well done!

Bill D

8:01pm | Jul 20, 2006

Thank you for making this car. I've always had conflicting views about my love for sports cars and a firm desire to better our world. I raced for years, and I've owned a lot of sports cars, most recently a Lotus Exige. I always loved light and efficient vehicles, but are often stuck with cars that leave any driving enthusuast cold (Prius, Insight, etc). You have taken the right approach. Right now I live in Chicago and own no car. I've found I can't live completely without a car. This is the perfect fit, and it has the elise/exige chassis! I couldn't ask for more. Sign me up!

Angi M>

8:38pm | Jul 20, 2006

Lovely car, just beautiful. But I too would like to know what the approximate cost range will be.

Karl K

8:40pm | Jul 20, 2006

"cool car. i just hope it won’t get bought and squashed."

Ugh. The sequel to "Tucker" and "Who Killed the Electric Car." Too frightening and sad to ponder.

Here's hoping your car makes some waves, and helps to refute the "no market for electric vehicles" propaganda. I'll still be more than happy w/ my Prius, once I can plug it in (and maybe eventually run it off of E85+), but am thrilled to see the market get some Oomph!

(Now, if the gov't could be run by someone other than oilmen, we might stand a chance.)

Lance Budris

8:42pm | Jul 20, 2006

Congratulations, I think you have hit one over the fence in the styling department and apparently the performance department too. If the reliability proves to be as good as the styling, you will turn the automotive world on its collective head.

Your timing is impeccable. I have just purchased a solar electrical system for my home and am eagerly awaiting the installation in 2 weeks. Your brillant sports car may just be the tipping point that the solar energy industry needs. Put me on the wait list.

Now if someone could just come up with a good, no frills, hybrid pick truck / van chassis. I say hybrid because of the way we use trucks. when empty ( a lot of the time ) the truck is relatively light and battery might suffice, but under load , especially in hilly terrain, a small multi-fuel turbine-alternator would be needed. That's how railroads have done it since steam went out. The hybrid just incorporates current storage.

I agree that there are those who would, if they could ban our personal vehicles. Hopefully comanies like yours can stem their tide.

I don\'t work for Tesla (yet?:-) but I\'ll venture some wild guesses as to answers to a couple of these questions....

1) What\'s it sound like? At city speeds, probably utter silence inside and outside. At highway speeds, probably like being onboard a jet aircraft: the rush of the wind. From inside the other cars you pass on the highway, like a gust of wind as it leaves everything else in the dust.

2) Why build a car for the wealthy? Think of the R&D costs that have to go into any truly revoutionary product, and the engineering costs that have to go into a new automobile design. The only way to recoup those costs in a way won\'t scare off investors is to aim the first product toward the high end of the market. Once that\'s been done, it becomes possible for a company to reinvest in products for a wider audience. I have full confidence we\'ll see a reasonably-affordable Tesla family car and other models in due course. (Hey guys: a tradesman\'s minivan at about $30k with 200 mile range would be an absolute win in that market sector and will also pick up fleet sales.)

(I can\'t afford a roadster either, but I\'m a patient guy and will gladly wait for additional models to come along in the years ahead.)

3) Another point about aiming for the high end of the market: The performance of this car will forever change the public impression of electric vehicles from \"compromise cars\" to \"the hottest thing on four wheels.\" To get that kind of performance, with zero compromise, necessarily means a high-end price tag. But that in turn will open up the market for electrics like never before, resulting in affordable high-performance electrics for everyone.

David Siegel

9:10pm | Jul 20, 2006

It looks great. But I don't see anything about the estimated MSRP. Have you decided on this yet, or is it still up in the air? Thanks for your input. Also, what are the options about charging? If you live in an apartment, without a garage, (I currently have one, but may not int the near future), how would one go about charging it? Would you have to get the solar option, and would it be adequate? Thanks

nobody

9:11pm | Jul 20, 2006

looks very nice, like a Lotus I saw once. 250 miles per charge. pfft!!!! [expletive deleted] where do you plug it in while you are at work? so much for those trips from Washington DC to New York City you will have to stop in Jersey about exit 7 to recharge. well its a start and hopefully your short comings will be compensated like the guys who drive those nice SUV\'s

William D

9:24pm | Jul 20, 2006

I hope that the first people to buy are celebrities because that will bring plenty of attention to the car a lot of non-cleberity type that can afford the car will buy to be part of the "in crowd". It's a great car if I could afford 85K I would buy one just so I can laugh everytime I saw a gas station.

Rob Quisenberry

9:37pm | Jul 20, 2006

This is an historic moment in automotive history, and a technological turning point. It will be interesting to hear the major auto makers' excuses as to why they could not accomplish such a feat with all of the massive global resources at their disposal. Once again, a small group of talented, intelligent and motivated individuals accomplished something (in a very short time) that the major corporations could, or would, not.

I have always maintained that the early electric cars were purposely designed to be painfully ugly and frustrating to drive. If nobody wants to be seen driving around in one of them, they won't buy them, and the auto makers can complain that there is no market for electric cars. The big carmakers never really wanted to build electrics in the first place.

Now the challenge will be to reduce the cost through economies of scale, so that average suburbanites like me can afford a Tesla. How about something between $30K and $40K?

You also might want to address the issue of sound. Ultra-quiet performance cars may not be such a good idea. How many Ferrari owners drive with their sound system off, just to drink in that beautiful exhaust note? Maybe you could introduce a variety of pre-recorded sounds linked to the engine RPMs to fill the cockpit. One day it could sound like an Italian V12, and on another like a Detroit V8. Or maybe a Sci-Fi space ship whine? We need feedback from the car. Driving is a relationship between man and machine and sound is important.

Congratulations! The car is fantastic is every way. Well done!

Vic

9:37pm | Jul 20, 2006

Good approach! Have you thought about the Indy 500? What will it take to win? To place? Your approach and a win at Indy are what EV needs.

Motor on each wheel no transmission, variable profile wheel, no steering gear, no differential, active suspension, all wheel steering, no brakes, battery slab an inch off the deck.

Then for all of us, pancake motor wheel modules with steering, and suspension. Two, four, six, eight or "n" wheels to meet load and application needs. Have fun with the sports car! Change the world with the modules (and make Gates look like a two bit lemon juice man).

Paul

9:37pm | Jul 20, 2006

These will be $80,000 - $120,000 !!!

OK for Hollywood types and other rich people.
I can't get too excited until it is the same price as a Prius.

This technology is to awsome to be bought out buy the oil companies. I hope you dont give in to a quick 10 mill when you can make so much more!

Do you expect to bring the technology to the masses? Can you produce a car in the 20,000 to 30,000 price range? I would buy one in a heart beat if that where the case. My ford truck gets 16 miles a gallon.

outstanding work! Keep it up!

Arthur Roche

10:04pm | Jul 20, 2006

I love that environmentally friendly and design are now one with each other. I look forward to more cars coming out from Tesla.

Gordon

10:12pm | Jul 20, 2006

If final assembly takes place in the UK, wouldn't it make sense to sell there as well. Shipping costs to the US wouldn't apply. Britain is much smaller than the US, and therefore range is less of a problem. Petrol prices are also much higher here.

Brown

10:22pm | Jul 20, 2006

Love the car! Question - When figuring emissions do you also account for the emissions generated by the power plants that are burning fossil fuels to make the power for the car? Granted nuclear and renewable energy sources could solve this issue and hopefully will. A kwh is cheaper than a gallon of gas but that is probably because it is taxed less. Taxes on gas more than double its cost and are a huge source of revenue for the government. What if the same tax rates were applied to electricity?

Josh H

10:23pm | Jul 20, 2006

I'm really impressed with this car! Though I'm not really a car enthusiast, I am very interested in new technology, and the Tesla Roadster really shows some great advances. I heard about the Roadster a few days ago, and was not sure what to expect, but I've really enjoyed reading through the material on the website (which is extensive and well designed). As a new college student, this car is certainly out of the budget for both me and my parents, but I hope that in the future, I can own a car this exciting!

As one among many, I just wanted to add my praise and congratulations!
Josh

It truly inspiring to see such a amazing technological advancement make such a bold, creative statement. It’s nothing less than revolutionary. I look forward to driving the car that changes our world.

-Mike

lee aikin

10:57pm | Jul 20, 2006

This is a great development. Here are a few ideas. Maybe some might even work. Nothing ventured nothing gained.
Would it be possible to build a car in which you could install fewer batteries if your needs were not so distant. For example, commuting 30 miles round trip. But with the capacity to put in more batteries if your lifestyle changed or you sold the car.
Get agreements with places like Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Giant Food, restaurant chains, hotel chains, etc. to install metered electrical chargers that you could plug into and pay for while at the store or sleeping on a trip.
Have places like the above where you could exchange discharged batteries for charged ones like you can exchange empty propane tanks for your barbacue.

Jamie Youmans

11:11pm | Jul 20, 2006

Racing and speed seem counter to what an electric car stands for BUT, it is the fast, sleek car that sells. I hope this car does well and attracts a lot of attension. Batteries, batteries, batteries. Getting a 250 mile range solves so many problems, especially for the rich folks that would buy one. I can only hope that the technology that drives your car can spur you or another manufacturer to build a drive train / car that will be aimed for the masses!

kert

11:17pm | Jul 20, 2006

Excellent.

I bet many people would like to see a small generator trailer option ( for rental or sale ) which would convert this beauty into a series hybrid on these rare occassions when you need to go more than 250 miles.
This would also put an end to talks about "still needing a diesel truck when coming to a race"

Emanuele

11:23pm | Jul 20, 2006

Great work! I hope to see the Tesla in Europe (Italy) very soon and I'm sure that there is a lot of space for battery technology advancements in the future (lighter, more powerful and easy to recycle battery packs). Se You Soon! ;)

I live in Northern CA and I just got a Pontiac Solstice, I will be buying a Tesla as soon as
possible, this is the car I have waited for for years. I just could not see myself in a Prius
so I am soooooooo glad to see a real car hit the market. Sign me up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A.L.

11:37pm | Jul 20, 2006

From an enthusiast's point of view there's one rather large problem with any electric sports car...the lack of a soundtrack, which just makes it seem like you're in a really fast electrical appliance...something with no soul to speak of (don't get me wrong, I love my fridge). Guess this is the second EV sports car to come out apart from the one based on the Ariel Atom. Can't remember what that one's called and if it weren't for the name of this one I'd likely forget too and just remember that it's the one based on the Elise. So now all the celebs will buy one of these and keep it right next to the Prius, Escalade, H2, private jet, etc etc etc...Posing aside, this is no doubt a great engineering exercise and another step in some direction...right or wrong is still to be seen. Still, good to see that at least someone is thinking creatively and trying to innovate. I just hope this thing still corners like an Elise...it would be a shame to waste such genius.

Martin

12:07am | Jul 21, 2006

I am very interested in owning this car. It's a perfect fit for a daily driver in Los Angeles. I hope it comes to market. I've read that 'Big Oil' can be quite nasty....Be safe.

I have dreamt for yars of making a kit to convert the Elise to electric and now you have done it for real, and a great job by the look of it.

I use my Elise to commute 80 miles a day and you car is the perfect replacement. Please Please Please let Lotus sell these things for you through their dealerships in the UK! When?

Are you talking to Lotus about their family car platform that they showed last year - same light chassis etc - this could be the basis of your next offering - it also looks cool and is large enough to be an option for the SUV lovers!

I wish you all the luck in the world and don't be put off by the critics whining about it being a sprot car and not a family car. You have made a fantastic start and proved what is possible. You have basically shown the existing car industry up as the dinosaur that it is. They will have to move on EV's now you have show them to be technically possible, I reckon you have about 5 years before they catch up (and only if they put their mind to it!)

First, when you speak of efficiency you have to take into account also the energy and resources necessary for development (!) and production not only when driving. So for real USD/km you have to include the purchase prize as well.

Second, in the FAQ you say that one could recharge over night, and that approx. 500 recharges are possible per battery pack. So every 1 and a half year one would need a new battery pack. Again a lot of energy is needed for that production.

This said, it is a great looking car and I love new approaches and I hope you will not "moderate away" my comment. :-)

Tim

2:10am | Jul 21, 2006

here down under in Australia I was a member of the Electric car club when I was 15 yo at high school.
I want one of these things, the are reminiscent of the lotus elise styling and it all looks just too good.
the range is quite good for the distances that we have to travel here in Australia but would like to see an improvement in charge time in the long run!!!!

You and your team have done something truly remarkable. As a military guy, I have to say thank you. As a person who won't be able to afford one of these until the celebrities and buzz grow your market to the point of volume efficiencies, thank you for giving me a "dream car" I don't feel guilty lusting for. Lastly, as a technophile all I can say is "It's about time." I've been waiting for a product like this since my childhood when I used to race little electric cars on snap-together sections of charged track.

Gordon Green

2:23am | Jul 21, 2006

Wow! It's a sports car lover's dream car. Congratulations.

I imagine for the typical 30 mile/day driver, the minimal daily discharge will make the battery last ten times longer the the 500 days one might assume with 500 discharge cycles.

For those concerned about range, you might offer the cute trailer/generator option that AC Propulsion shows attached to their tZero.

Of course, the cost is beyond the reach of most mortals. I have heard that the income from this will be invested in an electric car the rest of us can afford. You might wish to write a Blog on this next generation car so we can give our input.

I think we all thought we were the first post last night - I know I did as I was there at midnite, but I read thru the whole site before posting.

4 comments:

200-250 mile limit (if it includes hills) isn't a big deal - fine for driving around SF or LA, and if you want to go from one to the other, build a luxury charging station half way - like around Cambria - have lunch and a mini vacation for the 3 hours your car takes to charge - beautiful beach, countryside ... i.e., take time to smell the flowers thru the clean air you're making possible!

I love the exterior - absolutely awesome but the interior is uuugly! Sorry. You guys took the time to design a non-electric looking car from the outside, but forgot to do it on the inside. It looks like what you'd expect an electric car to look like. And the lines ... I hear it's taken from the Elise, but still ..... there's no flow, it doesn't match with the outside - that 'T-line', and doesn't look inviting .... I'd still buy one, but am disappointed with the look. There may be room for an after market for modifiying the interior.

It bothers me when people ask so many questions that are answered in the FAQ (or elsewhere on the site), it doesn't take long - I wonder why people don't skim thru that first. Just a few things not answered, like weight, leg room, price etc - though I hear the price is to be around $80-100K.

As for cost to drive - I have to disagree with you guys on that - you can't just use the cost of the electricity to compare to ICE cars, you have to include the cost of a new bat-pack, cos ICE cars don't nec. require a new engine at 100-120K miles, if you look after them, and even if they do, that's only a few grand not the probably $20-30K for a new bat-pack, so that's 20 cents a mile right there. But to your advantage, the other costs of ICE driving are not there - like tune ups etc. An ICE car generally costs about 33-50 cents a mile to drive if you include everything, I think, so yours is still cheaper at say around 25 cents.

Otherwise, as I said before - awesome job, awesome car. I want one.

Vic

4:33am | Jul 21, 2006

Good approach! Have you thought about the Indy 500? What will it take to win? To place? Your approach and a win at Indy are what EV needs.

Seriously even if you have to rent the Indy raceway and run the race between yourself and the last Indy winner (shamed and goaded into competing). Imagine the PR! In fact you can run against the numbers with no one else on the roadway, produce a documentary and get tremendous PR.

A possible Indy design with a single seat and of course a modular battery (pack )plate for fast fueling stops and minimum overall weight. Key design elements would be a motor on each wheel no transmission, variable profile wheel, no steering gear, no differential, active suspension, all wheel steering, no brakes, modular battery slab(with two turn lockup casters) an inch off the deck. SINCE THE WHEEL/MOTOR/STEER/SUSPENSION ARE IN ONE QUICK BOLT UP MODULE A PIT STOP IS A COMPLETE MOTOR AND ACTIVE SYSTEMS OVERHAUL. Nothing else could touch this baby! And it would take major body damage to put it out of the race.

The Model T (for Tesla of course) for the rest of us would be a system vehicle with enormous economies of scale arising from the core components, pancake motor wheel modules with steering, and suspension. Two, four, six, eight or “n” wheels to meet load and application needs.

Have fun with the sports car! Change the world with the modules (and become as rich as Croseus in the process).

Wow, can't wait to buy one on the east coast! I've been involved in the wvo culture (using waste vegetable oil for fuel in diesel vehicles) for a couple years, not feeling that any electric cars or hybrids available offer more than subsistence transportation. But here's a new take altogether! I think the car looks great. Apparently some people doubt Lotus' design appeal and I guess that's always up for grabs -personally, I think it's a step forward over existing Lotus cars (that I know of). And you can't knock it because really letting them design it lets Tesla focus on the real news: an electric car that performs. If they tried to design the body from scratch it would not have come out so good. I think it's much safer/better to be revolutionary technically, while drawing the style cues from an accepted source. Looks like a solid company with a solid plan! Bring on the future Tesla!

John_of_arabia

5:13am | Jul 21, 2006

A few questions:

How do you charge it? Can it be doen off regualr household current? What's the battery life? (Range and number of years before replacement)

I heard on NPR that you're planning on making a family sedan. I' d like to see something like that built here in America.

Chris Cates

6:13am | Jul 21, 2006

You have given the environmentally conscious sports car enthusiast hope! This is precisely what I have been waiting for... I sincerely hope that this concept is a success and branches out beyond the CA, NY, FL markets. Otherwise, I may have to move!

Good luck!

-CMC

Miro Humer

6:20am | Jul 21, 2006

I'm thrilled to see an electric car that is designed to be an enjoyable drive! Congratulations!

Jeremy P

6:21am | Jul 21, 2006

I think it is a mistake to try and enter the market with a 2-seater roadster model. How many people actually have a real need for such a car? To have a sporty look is nice, but the design makes it most impractical and ineffective. Also, an exotic look only encourages people to look but not touch. In other words, how many people really feel comfortable driving their Lamborghini to work every day? Create a car that average joes can commute in, can put their kids in a carseat in, and can look good in. Do that, and I'm ordering one (whether $25K or $50K). I just don't see this vehicle getting beyond the EV-1 stage.

Hi Martin!
Your car is really the coolest invention in the car business of the last two centuries!
But... I live in Europe/Italy and I know that your compay will NOT SELL your car outside USA.
WHY?
Perhaps have you an agreement with Lotus?
Will Lotus sell the car in Europe?
Have you an agreement with some European car company (such as SMART Car) that will use your electric engine?
And more, are you planning to produce a non sport car that will use your engine?
I suggest you to add my questions on your FAQ! :)

Anyway I really hope that you will brake the iron wall of the cars Mayor companies!!!
I hope that you will answer me.
Best regards and greetings from Italy,
Luca Oleastri

Jay Patel

6:25am | Jul 21, 2006

I think that focusing on fuel economy and emissions is missing the point.

A beautifully styled, mid-engined, high performance, roadster* needs no other justification.

Hopefully the car will be big enough for men and women over six feet tall.

* Don't forget the ipod connection and bluetooth.

Pete M

6:40am | Jul 21, 2006

I applaud your insight, foresight, and entrepreneurial spirit! Like many others who've added to this blog, I too would jump at the chance to invest in Tesla Motors stock should you go public. Please allow interested small investors to sign up to be notified the second you make your IPO.

Awesome job on this project. I hope the hipe does not fade away. This type of thinking may just open up the doors to many more free thinkers that does not settle into the big 3 auto makers type of thinking. Yes we could make more money with GAS prices sky rocketing every week. But this one takes the cake. The Rules Have Changed! Congratulations and Best of Luck!! lets see that your rules will make the differance we all need.

Edward

6:44am | Jul 21, 2006

Super-cool car. I know because you're a smaller manufacturer, the costs would likely be higher than a volume-produced car. I hope the price isn't going to be something like $100,000. If it were $50,000, I think that would be a reasonable amount, and get you plenty of customers. Even though it would still be out of my (current) budget, I could definitely see myself in one of these in the next 5-10 years. For $40k, you'd have people stampeding into dealerships! I wish you guys the best. Something like this is long overdue!

Late at 1990 I wrote in my english essay about my dream car. Since I had a change to get a driving license in 1993 I've started to wait a car of my dreams. I knew gasline versions won't do for me cause there's that much enviromentalist in me. It has been a long 14 years to see this day come true. I truly hope I can raise the money before you take preorders... If not I could trade parts of my inventions to this car... Oh man. I'm breathless. In the end someone's got to do it. Congratulations & greetings from Finland.

Sincerely,

Mika Huhtanen

Nevin

7:22am | Jul 21, 2006

This would be a hit in Canada, where small-vehicle (ie. highly fuel efficient) sales are growing by leaps and bounds every year....but I wonder how it would last in a -30C winter?

Jacob Bernard

7:24am | Jul 21, 2006

Hi Tesla Advertising/Marketing Team,

This car is great ! You should have these cars in TV shows and movies. Especially the young environmental market, such as the OC, Smallville, CSI, the Science Technology crowd on Sci-Fi channel, the car shows like 'Pimp my ride' and let's not forget the sports stars on ESPN. And definitely Mel Gibson needs to drive one. The car should be at the Oscars Red Carpet. " What happened to the electric car?" It went digital. Great job on everything.

I wish you all the greatest of succes.

Pete Brown

7:48am | Jul 21, 2006

Somebody finally figured out how to market an electric car to the USA -- Electric Hot Rods. Kudos - can't wait for an entry model to make may daily commute less painful on my wallet.

zak lekic

8:04am | Jul 21, 2006

Bravo Bravo Bravo!! YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION! I've emailed information about your company to all of my friends....this is what everyone wants: freedom, excitement, safety and NOT damaging our environment!
Congratulations

George Daszkowski

8:24am | Jul 21, 2006

I have read your dissertation on the efficiency and emissions of the Tesla vehicle and am disapointed that in the full cuycle emission accounting you made no effort tom include the emissios created in the mining, manufacture and recycling of the lithiumion batteries.

Additionally the fact that a couple of toy cars will not impact the electricity grid but any significant replacement of gasoline powered cars will have a significant impact and I beeive taht you should have made reference to that

The car does offer an interesting insight into electric vehcle usse but is a long way from a panacea for our transportation needs.

Jeremy Johnson

8:31am | Jul 21, 2006

You will be Gates squared. An ev auto market that just on sales potential alone could generate 80 trillion dollars in the next 30 years give or take several trillion. Can you get Your VC partners to setup a mutual fund which is derived from your company and all the related technologies including the your energy storage, solar and wind guys. Then post an investor link on your homepage. I want a part of this action it only makes clear sense for all of us when oil production is peaked and demand is growing exponentialy what is the most logical choice.

Grantman

8:37am | Jul 21, 2006

How about changing your website \'look\' from a white on black to black on white. OK, it\'s not cool, but I\'d guess that many people have [expletive deleted] monitors and can\'t even see the pictures, let alone read the text without straining...like me.

Or maybe an option for those of us who do have the above mentioned monitors might be able to \"change skins\" to see it better.

I\'m looking forward to learning about the Telsa, but I gotta be able to see it first! ;-)

Thanks for letting me rant. I DO want to learn about your car.

Grantman

Rick

8:48am | Jul 21, 2006

This is an amazing car. One question-- how much trunk space does it have?

Jim Crittenden

8:49am | Jul 21, 2006

I am curious about the origin of the name of the Tesla roadster. Was it inspired by Nikola Tesla? If so, is there some particular reason to associate him with automotive technology, or it just a general reference to his genius for high-power electromagnetic industrial applications?

Brent G

8:59am | Jul 21, 2006

Absolutely amazing! The vehicle is nicely styled and should prove to be highly desireable but why the hood vents? Is cooling an issue for the batteries? As you mention less moving parts and less to go wrong so it appears reliablity will not be much of an issue. If your R&D can improve the range and you can convince partners to build help build a recharge infastructure I think you will really have something here. If your initial offering of this vehicle is successful I would give consideration to building something a bit more practical like a crossover or a hatchback but I am sure you folks have figured this out already. Any chance this vehicle will work in a cold climate or would ever be offered in a all wheel drive configuration? Keep me posted. Will there be an IPO?

Your Tesla car is GREAT! I am going to try and convince my husband to buy one. Here's my question. As a mother with kids to drive around, when will you have a four seater that is not a convertible.?I just saw the movie "Who killed the electric car" and would love to have the EV car (was it the RAV?) that was like a mini SUV. As soon as you make one, I'll buy it!

Ronny

9:13am | Jul 21, 2006

Hello future !!!! it is realy nice to see the future come.
i'm from swiss, and i drive a peugeot 106electric, it is a feeling and i don't anderstand
the people. the price is real. here you don't have a marketing for there car's.

electric car's are furture, but they are not popular !!!!! why ?????

sorry for my bad english
and Congratulations tesla for the best car Congratulations Congratulations

George Daszkowski

9:37am | Jul 21, 2006

What is the imact of a rainy day on range assuming that you have to usse the same bathery pack to generate heated air to demost the windshiled?

What provision doo you have a for a cool fal afternoon?

Chris

9:40am | Jul 21, 2006

This car is smokin' hot! I just hope it's affordable. I see know reason that it should be priced over $25k.

Linda

9:49am | Jul 21, 2006

Now that you've made the "sexy, cool, high performance" carheads happy hurry up with an affordable family sedan and really make a "cool, high performance and sexy" impact on our enviroment by giving access to many more people!

I've got to echo AJ's comments (July 20th, 2006 at 1:20 pm) -- can you provide some information on how the car handles, especially with some real world race track tests? 0-60 (and faster) is one thing, but we also need to know how it goes around corners!

Lenny Zimmermann

10:27am | Jul 21, 2006

My question/suggestion for a blog entry here would echo the other questions about wight and performance factors, about battery "memory" (better to wait for the charge to get low and then charge up to help prevent that?) and additionally I'd be interested in the accuracy of the battery guage on the car. And how is the guage calibrated? Does it estimate based on your previous driving pattern/AC usage how many miles are left, or it is based amount of time left on the battery? What if you screwed up and got stranded away from a plug? Could you spend time charging off of a gas auto's power system?

Definitely a great looking vehicle and I really look forward to the day when the price is down enough and it's available in the New Orleans area.

Tim Egan

10:35am | Jul 21, 2006

Did someone actually comment that this car should cost no more than $25k? And then there are comments about it's practicality when it comes to thing like shuttling the kids. I seriously doubt that many Tesla buyers will be struggling with the decision of whether to buy this car or a Camry. The fact is there is no one car that suits everyone. This company is only making one car and they've scored a bullseye with their targeted market.

Paul

10:44am | Jul 21, 2006

In response to George Daszkowski, I agree but then you also don't take into account the emissions related to the extraction, transportation, sale and delivery of oil and refined gas either! Not to mention the military costs for protecting oil supplies. I would bet it has a lot more related emissions than producing batteries.

Lenny Zimmermann

10:49am | Jul 21, 2006

This article answers some of the questions for folks who've bothered to scroll this far down. ;)

I am actually a bit disappointed in the price range. If this were in a lower price range, I think you could make more money by selling larger quantity and smaller profits. The $80,000 to $100,000 range is making this an upper-class vehicle and making it a dream for 90% of the public.

You have all the right ideas going into this project (stylish EV that the public will want), but the price point is just too much to make real sense from a consumer's point of view. This is not to mention that the cost of a new battery at the end of the 500 charges (if it lasts that long).

I'm sorry, but right now I'm not impressed with it in general outside of the styling.

Max

11:16am | Jul 21, 2006

You really think the big boys won't try to shut you down ?

Aaron

11:16am | Jul 21, 2006

Please let me know when my sportbike is ready. :)

BTW: Pricepoint for the roadster is understandable considering R&D and functionality . Someday I WILL own one.

As a European why do I believe in America? Because of this new car, because of nanosolar.com (developed new generation of solar cell that is 20 times cheaper than solar cells on the market today and generates electricity cheaper than fossile fuel), because of Altairnano's new Li-ion battery that charges 6 times more rapidly than standard li-ion batteries. The president is terrible, but the American people are great and that is why America is great.

Ray Van De Walker

11:37am | Jul 21, 2006

Great idea! (Wide torque curve! Ha!) Great car! Charge all that the market will bear. Be elite. Be profitable. And, use good windshield wipers. (It was so -clever- to use a skilled car manufacturer in your target market! Wow!)

Now design next year's model. Make it better. Hit 'em harder. Use the money to design a -better- motor with a -wider- torque curve. There' s always plenty of room at the top.

Jerry

11:39am | Jul 21, 2006

So what about swapable battery packs for longer hauls....just pack an extra pack and get 500 miles. Or 2 for 750?

Please make the Tesla as affordable as possible for the middle income class, and you're sure to have me as a buyer by next summer! I'm preparing to sell my current cars now. I'll even have the Tee shipped from California, to avoid the wait for New York. Can you imagine the looks on New York and New Jersey pedestrian's faces, when I drive down 42nd street b/w 7th and 8th, and on Bergenline Avenue b/w 69th and 39th in a brand spanking new Tesla? As The Rock put it in "Be Cool", ...Scorchin'!!!

Perhaps I missed it, but what is the voltage rating of the electrical system, batteries, etc...?

Robert - Calgary, Canada

1:20pm | Jul 21, 2006

I am an instant fan. I am a sports car fanatic. I want a black one. It's beautiful. The trouble is, I live in Canada about 2,774 km or 1723 miles from southern California. Will there be a Canadian version?
I live and work in Oil rich Alberta, I work for an Oil and Gas Company, I would gladly sell both my gas guzzleing V8's to buy one of these cars.
I do agree with a few of the other bloggers however, I think that the price should be a bit more reasonable, and accessible, we are all not made of money like our Terminator friend. I'd say around the 50 k price range would suit me just fine.
So to summarize we need them in Canada and we want to pay around 50k for the car. Please, Please, Please make that happen.
Thanks.
Robert

Your combination of styling, power, and endurance looks to be the combination to ignite the American (if not World's) imagination for the electric vehicle. And while it is one thing to produce a box on wheels that will shuttle groceries from the store, and kids to and from events, you've touched upon that raw nerve, that deeply imbedded, almost primal afection and affectation that people have with the automobile, and you have re-defined the rules of the affair.

And starting with the visceral is an extremely astute move. It's a good guess that you've surveyed your target markets, and have not failed to notice the quantity of 'sexy' cars that fall in the price range you're asking for your vehicle - all the while grinning to yourselves, knowing that your product , with its performance stats, ease of maintenance, performance stats, stylish good looks, PERFORMANCE STATS...um, er...will no doubt have used car lots and for sale ad sellers flush with traffic from folks looking to unload their Beemers, Porsches, and Vettes. Or, at least, more than enough of them to ensure yourselves sufficient orders for full production operations.

My guess is that the next steps will be to take a look at the feasability of wrapping something "practical" around a 200+ HP/200+ mile range powertrain - maybe even something that looks like an "SUV" (which could probably tote more battery load for more range, etc). Pull something like that off for 50K or less, and the big automakers will no doubt put out contracts on your heads - while they scramble to try and reverse engineer their own offerings to compete.

Actually, however, get a big enough jump, and they'll be left at the line, just like your current product does to theirs already. Probably the biggest thing you have to watch out for is the likes of someone like Henry Waxman coming along and beginning to insist that some sort of speed governor or limiter be incorporated on the vehicle (after getting a case of the "it goes HOW FAST?" vapours)

Congratulations. You've just built a car that makes me actually think there may be something to trade UP for from my Porsche.

Paul Golovin

1:35pm | Jul 21, 2006

WHISPER LEAF-BLOWER
I live in a fairly nice apartment complex, and I am annoyed by leaf-blower noise.
It's too big a complex for cord-powered electric blowers to make sense.
What would the hi-tech-battery-pack weigh, for an hour or so of leaf-blowing ?
If your technology down-scaled, such a toy might really get sales in luxury communities.

Groovy Guy

2:02pm | Jul 21, 2006

I am also EXREMELY DISSAPOINTED at the price. I completely understand the price (80 grand at max anyways), but this car is being priced away from those who could really use it. I think everything you've done with this car is absolutely amazing, and the tech is great. Please, I'm begging you to use this tech in a car that is affordable and practical. I was hoping i could somehow affor dthis car as I am a big environmentalist, but I need a car to drive from school to home and work. I think it would be very smart to build a more affordable car as well as your roadster. Please keep up the good work!

Bruce

2:02pm | Jul 21, 2006

How comfortable is the car for older people? Is there room for groceries? For luggage? This appears to be more of a sports car. Please consider making a true family car.

I see you are planning on selling cars in Miami. Could it go on Amtrak's AutoTrain between Virginia to Florida? Why not sell it in the National Capital Area? That would make a huge impact.

Max

2:17pm | Jul 21, 2006

All the best guys !

If all goes well Tesla Motors will become one of the biggest companies

on earth.

Chris Wood

2:17pm | Jul 21, 2006

Great work! This is the car of the future. I'm sure it will develop into a leading car of choice. I would love to own one. I'm sure this car is dedicated to the father of the industrilzed world, Nikola Tesla and alternating current.

Joe Schmoe

2:27pm | Jul 21, 2006

Suppose I live in Sunnyvale, and I want to take my date up to Marin for the day and suppose we want to drive around in the wine country part of the day. It doesn't seem like there would be enough energy storage capacity in the batteries to last a whole day of drivng around.

My date my be impressed by the car's looks and performance, but she's going to be a little pissed off when the care runs out of watt hours. How is this going to help me get her into the sack. And, that's really the whole point of this isn't it?

Michael Diaz

2:33pm | Jul 21, 2006

Mr. Eberhart,

1. What Happens when the Tesla Brakes Down???

Proposed Solution: Connect the car through a USB port to the computer and use a remote tester through the companys' website to provide diagnostics, upgrades, re-configuration, warranty, closest repair shop with certified mechanics from Tesla, etc.

2. Stocks???

Ans: Show me the stock!!!! When are you planning on going public???

Regards,
Michael

DR.EDSON ANDRE' JOHNSON D.D.

2:37pm | Jul 21, 2006

TO HYPE THE TESLA ROADSTER 1. GET A SHOW LIKE COASTTO COAST AM IAN PUNETT9HE KNOWS ME!) TO HAVE THE TESLA MOTORS DEVELOPERS ON AIR. 2. GET TO THE TESLA SOCIETY WEBSITE THEY'LL PUT THE TESLA CAR UP MON THERE WEBSITE FREE!(MENTION EDSON I'AM A MEMBER OF THE BOARD) 3. GET ON LARRY KING ETC IF YOU CAN! SELL THE TESLA CAR BUT ALSO HAVE RECHARGE STATIONS IN SHOPPINBG MALLS, ETC. THE FASTER THE RECHARE THE BETTER EDSON ANDRE' JOHN SON D.D.

For all I know, this car has not been tested. There are no exact performance spec. It is a great car however, please don't get me wrong. But this car is an almost identical copy of the Lotus Elise. Why? It uses the same MOMO steering wheel, the whole interior is almost the same, the seats probably use the same skeletons. By looking at the car it is possible to tell that the chassis is exactly the same. And no price yet.

Amazing car though, I love it.

Kelly

3:18pm | Jul 21, 2006

I heard a report on NPR yesterday about your company, so I had to check out your web site. Whoa!! I'm itching to get into this car!

As a mom of a small child, my practical side cries out for an electric vehicle that the whole family can enjoy. We have a Honda Civic Hybrid and can get it up to 51 mpg, but going totally electric with a wide range is exactly what we've been looking for. The NPR report mentioned that a family sedan is in the works. We would absolutely love that!!

This roadster is going to definitely turn heads. Wouldn't it be awesome to have a group of roadsters drive together around the U.S.? It would get media attention. I'd love to see them drive down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C!

I heard of your car at Washington Monthly. I'm putting a link to your site on my blog. We just bought a Jag wagon, and my plan was to get a second car in a couple of years. I was thinking something smaller, that I could fit clubs in--but really fast. A used 911, or a WRX, or the like. Now I've got something else to consider.

Can I fit a set of golf clubs in your Tesla?

Robert .A. Wright

4:15pm | Jul 21, 2006

Hi everyone,
Rob here from Australia \"Down Under\".
Congrat\'s on your launch.
People of the World Unite and join the Electric Revolution.
Peace....!

Kyle Kemper

4:54pm | Jul 21, 2006

Capitalism pervails...good on you guy for sticking it to the fatcats. I just hope through mass-priduction you can get your costs down and streamline the production to the point where low-income families can afford one of your models. Also, sell to CANADA ASAP SVP, Merci.

Mark

5:58pm | Jul 21, 2006

Congrats. Great timing. You have a big opportunity to lead on the benefits of EVs. Once high visibility people generate demand for this car at its price, Tesla wil seed the market for the everyman's EV. That will be the company's real contributiion. We need this now. And don't overlook Boston, despite its colder climate. We get it here.

Thomas Uhlman

6:32pm | Jul 21, 2006

Nice car!!!! I am planning on buying one at (almost) any cost when they are available....
Have you considered the new Toshiba fast charging lithium battery technology ???

STUNNING!!! Tesla Roadster is the perfect sports car for the beginning of the 21st Century: beautiful, stylish, energy efficient performance and a complete divorce from dinosaur fuel sources. Congratulations and many auspicious wishes. Now get the car to New York fast... we need Tesla.

(as for the encouraging clamor for a four seater... Don't change the style or performance, just add two more cockpit seats with a bridge seat to link them. I'd like to take a spin with my three closest friends without playing favorites.)

Emerald Citizen

7:25pm | Jul 21, 2006

I can see plenty of potential for this mode of transportation. Mucho kudos.

Some more work on the engine will see some spectacular gains all round, regardless of improvements in battery technologies (which should provide synergistic improvements).

I can also see the future in all wheel and four wheel drive applications.

Great car! The white paper in the "more" section was particularly interesting.

I can't wait until more traditional all-electric sedans are made in a few years. Would be perfect for my needs.

Nico

9:32pm | Jul 21, 2006

I live in Hawaii (Oahu), and I can't think of a more perfect car for these islands. The weather, the atmosphere, but most importantly, you simply can't drive 250 miles from anywhere...unless you circumnavigate the island twice. There are a lot of wealthy people here; consider a "show franchise" here.

Tom Wooldridge

9:50pm | Jul 21, 2006

Martin,

Although I'll never be able to afford owning your car I say bravo. Thank you for having the gumption & vision to stretch the e-car concept in a no limits enthusiast direction.

ATTITUDE ! YES!

Tom

TEG

10:17pm | Jul 21, 2006

Howdee folks.
This is an exciting product for those of us idealistic driving enthusiasts.
I hope it can all come together and last unlike many dream vehicles come and go quickly.
Often times it ends up being greed, corporate egos and disillusioned investors that end the party early.
Look at what happened to the Corbin Sparrow products, the Vector WX-3, or the endless development of the Moller air car.

With regard to the current prototype, some questions:

Does it have regen on the front wheels? As you know, during braking the weight transfers to the front wheels so regen on the rears only (through the main motor) would miss out on a lot of engergy going to the front wheels.

Are there concerns that the carbon fiber body is long term durable? Some Porsche-philes have mocked the Maclaren F1 as being a race technology body that slowly melts over the years. Carbon fiber is great for a one season race chassis, but is it really appropriate for a vehicle expected to be on the road for 5-10 years? I hope this isn't a concern.

( Please don't censor this posting! )

Thanks - and three cheers for this project / company! It is great to see some dreams come true.

Mark

11:11pm | Jul 21, 2006

Wow! I just came back from viewing the black Tesla Roadster, at the Peterson Automotive Museum in LA. If you think this roadster's syling is stunning from viewing its pictures, you won't believe how much more extraordinary it is when viewed close up! When I first saw the pictures I was not overly impressed, thinking it looked too much like a Lotus Elise. But, seeing the car close up made all the difference. Something about the roadster's scale or length of wheelbase, when viewed by the pictures, just doesn't translate the awesome presence this car has. It is not another Lotus... it has its own SuperCar identity!

Walking into the Peterson Automotive Museum you are welcomed by seeing a beautiful bright red Ferrari F50. The Tesla Roadster looks like it would be right at home next to the Ferrari.

Congratulations to all those at Tesla Motors who helped develop such an outstanding car!

Interested in the price range, and size -- is it bigger than the Elise? I'm 6'4" so it's a bit of a concern. Will you be either in the Houston, or the Southeast any time in the near future? Also, I remember an Autoweek article years ago where ya'll had a model w. a small generator for longer trips, will you be offering that?

I see a lot of nice, very nice and mostly nice comments, nothing more to say, but if there the interest is so high, why there is no question about delivery, price etc. I would like to ask all these practicle questions, when I and all these interested people will have the product in our garages.
Greetings from Bulgaria / EU

Steve Murad

2:19am | Jul 22, 2006

The Tesla is another reason for Bush to pull out of Iraq!

Harvey Mushman

3:13am | Jul 22, 2006

It all looks to good to be true! Why have they not made a best guess at the price? Have they complied with the crash tests yet? Where is a true Road and Track style specification tare-sheet?

All I can say is................... I'm fully impressed and I hope to be able to claim one in the near future.......I'll probably want to opt for the solar array system, since it will take about 5-6 years to pay for it'self , and then the energy is all free for another 24 yr.. ( read this in another car mag)...
Hope you can keep the performance up and the overall cost of ownership down..
Kuddos to your company and collaboration with Lotus for converting a great dream to reality.
Love the design and hope the performance around a track are close to the lotus elise...

John Clark

4:52am | Jul 22, 2006

I used to live in Indiana where we could, and did, have power outages sporadically throughout the year. A few times my power was out for several days yet I had to drive to work and back amd make other trips. I would not have been able to charge the car at my home and probably not at work since I parked on a city street. I assume that anyone relying on an electric car for their transporation needs would need a way to charge their car if they had an extended local power outage. Look at the St. Louis area today, up to 500,000 people have been without power for several days and they are still without power. Can the car be charged using a portable gasoline or diesel powered generator and how long would it take?

Ed J

4:55am | Jul 22, 2006

A truly amazing-looking product, with a solid technology behind it. It wil be interesting to watch this concept take off, and dealerships dot the map....how about putting one in North Carolina? It won't be soon enough for me! I am definitely interested in owning one of these. Keep up the good work. Ed

I worked on lithium based rechargeable batteries at Energy Conversion Labboratories, Inc. in the early 1960s. After that I was at Ford Scientific where, among other systems, I worked on the sodium-sulfur molten salt rechargeable battery. Then it was back to (the by then renamed) ECD where the nickel metal hydride battery concept waqs under way. I then become an OEM automotive production supplier CEO and retired to pursue low labor cost country sourcing of strategic materials for high tech OEM automotive use.

The main problem with the Li-Ion battery system is the unknown reliability of massive application systems such aqs yours that frequently draw, by electronics industry standards, very large currents. I spotted your emphasis on a cooling sysytem.

Can you tell me from where you are getting Li-Ion battery packs that have long lives under the condtions of driving that you project for your car?

I tried to find this on your website and was unsuccessful

Your car looks loike a winner, by the way, iof you can get past service, service availability, and reliability of powerplant component issues.

Thank you,

Curtis

5:32am | Jul 22, 2006

Great looking vehicle. Innovative. If the price is kept below $30K ( more like $25k) it would be a great investment. I suspect, however, it will be more. As you know, it will take longer for the cost of the vehicle to out weigh the benefit. By that time, most people are looking for a new vehicle.

Bob Simon

6:03am | Jul 22, 2006

Why don't you look into manufacturing and marketing this car and future models in China?
They have the greatest demand for cars. A new and burgening car industry. Huge coal reserve to make the electricity. Large urban centers so, long distant driving is not a major issue. And a rich and controlling government that can invest and subsidize the car. Also they have a growing air quality problem that these cars can help forstall.

The original drawing is very cool. The first clay model differed from it greatly. Why? Was there too little wheel clearance in the drawing? Did it have to be changed to fit a specific frame? Did the drawing offer too little head-room? Just wondering.

TheLuckyOne

6:37am | Jul 22, 2006

PLEASE distribute through Lotus dealers!! Also -- if it's going to be $90k, then get some innovative financing. Either way, I will stretch to get one -- seems totally worth it...

Sad to relate, electric vehicles are a hoax. Their batteries must be charged by plugging their charging cord into an electrical power outlet. Where does Mr. Eberhard think the electric power for the outlet derives? From a nuclear, or coal-fired, or gas-fired, or oil-fired electical power plant, of course. Additionally, there is no coefficient of performance (COP) with the charging and discharging of the car batteries, as does exist with electrically-powered devices such as refrigerators and air conditioners. I too like cars, and if those who need to drive cars would all drive minis that achieve 50 or more miles per gallon, the US could become energy independent.

Ed richman

7:37am | Jul 22, 2006

I have never been very entusiastic about cars. I found them to be nothing more than a poor form of transportation.
You Michael have come up with a vehicle that finally brings us to a new century. With all the incredible leaps in technology we have allowed lobbies of all envolved to dictate how we move around.
I am sure once the momentum takes hold it will be an extraordinary new Renaissance for travel.
One thing though. When I purchase my vehicle and I am traveling cross the country. where will I plug in to recharge.
Sounds to me that I might want to be in on the ground floor of the charging stations.

Good luck on a great project Ed Richman

Patrick Martin

7:43am | Jul 22, 2006

Wow. I was amazed by the idea when I heard about early this year but finally having details got me so excited. I talk about it to friends at every occasion. Can't wait to have the opportunity to buy one. Are you going to have Sedan and SUV types too? CONGRATULATIONS and take that in your teeths Big Oil Business!!

Dr Mark Snyder

7:53am | Jul 22, 2006

Outstanding...I knew it was only a matter of time before the ideas pioneered in so many places (such as Ohio State's electric car speed records) would make their way into our garages.

What can I say? You launch something close to my ideal car on my 40th birthday!

So, when can I get one in Europe? :-)

Take care and very good wishes!

Hugh

8:36am | Jul 22, 2006

Wondering what the interior dimensions are as that is the very first thing that determines weather I look any further... at 6'-2" tall I need to feel comfortable behind the wheel… compare to an existing vehicle please.

I hope that future topics on your blog (or on the company website) will include more detail about the car's engineering and performance.

For example, the manufacturers of competing sports cars will typically provide information about the steering, suspension, weight distribution, etc. of their cars. This is information that gives someone who knows cars the ability to predict if the car is going to handle more like a maserati or a minivan, and thus decide if they want to go to the trouble of a test drive. This would seem to matter in the case of your company, since test driving opportunities are likely to be harder to come by than say, with a porsche.

I am also wondering about the weight of the car. With the engine being as light as it is, and the carbon fiber body and aluminum frame, I don’t understand where the 2,500 lb. weight is coming from. I am assuming the batteries make up the bulk of it, but would really appreciate some elaboration.

Also, following up on TEG's comments above, I am also particularly interested in how the weight is distributed between the front and rear axels. It appears that you've put all the weight (batteries and engine) in the back of the vehicle. Since the engine weighs next to nothing, my guess is that the bulk of this weight is from the batteries. It seems that you have the capability to spread the batteries, and that weight, around the car any way you would like, so if the weight isn’t spread around, I would be curious as to why.

Finally, assuming I like the way the car runs, I fully expect to buy one, since I’ve been driving roadsters, and waiting for an electric version, for years. Note that I live in Washington State, so I am not your target customer. I expect I am not alone in having both an interest in your product and the good sense to live somewhere besides a huge US city. ;)

I hope you can find it in your heart to make the cars available in places besides the regions you’ve identified without financial penalty.

Robert

8:58am | Jul 22, 2006

Does it have a "trunk"/storage area?

Bryan Moseley

10:20am | Jul 22, 2006

what you need to do is to make it the next James bond car or have it featured in a slick film. that will solidify it as a sports car to own an lots of guys will pony up the dough to get it. Show it out performing a regular sports car and Bond using it to get away and you will have lots of orders for this thing.

Ronald Greene

10:33am | Jul 22, 2006

You stated that the bigger and more powerful the elecectric motor the more efficient it becomes. I certainly hope so because I live in
an area surround by long steep hills. We tried an electric bike which on a steep hill slows down and eventually stops even when fully charged. I am assuming that if the electric motor is not stong enough, does not have enough torque the electric is then turned into heat at a high rate, the bike runs out of electric and stops. This was with a D.C. motor which was not very strong. Thus, I believe that the technology of A.C. motors is much more advanced and will have the necessary power to keep the car moving at speed up even long steep hill.s. Anyway, I am hoping that you have solved this problem since when driving a car you may encounter a series of long steep hill which
may then not leave you with enough charge to get to your destination. How does you car deal with a series of long steep hills? How do you keep the batteries cool?

Ronald Greene

Marc Schneider

10:52am | Jul 22, 2006

Congrats on doing something that Porsche, Audi and other roadster manufactures keep telling us isn't practical for the two-seat sportcar market - a performance EV. However, until you can come in a compete at the same entry point as a Boxster ($43,000) or better, and Audi S4 ($35,000) you will remain a playtoy for the rich. Nice to hear that you have an econo-box 4 seater in the works, but why do the car companies insist on going to the market extemes with this technology?

I want a A4/S4 or Boxster (non-S) replacement, fully electric and under $40,000. The reason the Boxster does
so well is beyond being a great design is because it's affordable. At $90,000 you've got your work cut out.

Hi Guys, fantastic work!! I'm overseas, can i buy shares since i can't buy the car? Have to put me down to dj at one of your bling private functions in the future too ;)

David Roberson

12:01pm | Jul 22, 2006

Great car! I'll be looking for one a few years into my practice (I'll take it in silver please); Goodbye pumps!

TEG

12:07pm | Jul 22, 2006

Yeah - you could sell a huge amount more at $45K than $90K.
But if you can't build them fast enough for that kind of demand might as well charge enough to keep the waiting list in sync with what you can build.

Besides $90K is probably a loss for a while trying to recoup some of the large R&D costs.

Even if the $90K was all profit they would have to sell hundred of cars to recoup the R&D.

I live in Mesa AZ. and was wondering when will this car be avalable here? Don't know how the heat might effect the cars performance but I would love to TEST it out for you guys. Please keep me informed this sounds like something I would want to buy!!!

ptmartin

12:30pm | Jul 22, 2006

A little late to the party but thanks for doing the right thing. The Tesla Roadster has definitely raised the bar in a hurry. I suspect, because of the price point that you will have a lot of competition in the field in a hurry. Not to worry, I'd buy one now if you were shipping. Thanks.

Jack

12:45pm | Jul 22, 2006

Tesla lives AGAIN ... let's hope that the trillionaires don't squash you mere

billionaires out of the game.

Katherine

1:56pm | Jul 22, 2006

I would love to read all about this, but white print on a black background is deadly. I am a senior and cannot read it! Please change to black on white! I love technology and want to know more

bruce

2:36pm | Jul 22, 2006

Great concept. I urge you to set a goal of bringing the cost down to a level that makes this affordable for people who earn around what the car is currently expected to cost.

Sudeep Gupta

2:38pm | Jul 22, 2006

Very impressive. The car looks great! The beltline is a little low, and I'm not crazy about the cockpit (most sports car owners are used to a wide transmission hump/console, even if your car doesn't need it).

I imagine that starting out with 100k version today means that eventually you'll have a version in the $40,000-50,000 price range (Corvette/Boxter range). Hummer did that with the H1/H2. At that range, I would definitely consider the car.

Julian Morrison

3:48pm | Jul 22, 2006

I look on with some frustrated envy, but also excitement: I think you've finally reached the tipping point.

Todd R. Phillips

4:00pm | Jul 22, 2006

This is exactly what the entire world needs not just us here in the USA. Great work, keep it up! Thank you

Rich P

4:02pm | Jul 22, 2006

This is a great idea. How can we invest? Let me know if it is possible to buy stock early on in this company. I hope this changes automobiles forever. Your next step could be motorcycles.

Dan

6:06pm | Jul 22, 2006

Awsome! I am a gearhead myself and I have said for some time now that someone ought to be able to develop an EV that provides performance and endurance. I want one. I also would like to invest in your CO. Is that possible? Good luck keeping up with the excitement and demand that is being expressed.

Michael Miller

6:12pm | Jul 22, 2006

Just finished the article in Wired and was very impressed with your vehicle. While the $80,000 price point will be viewed by many as too high, I think it is reasonable given the car's stated performance and it's desirability. I expect that you will be able to sell all you can produce at that price and that will help ensure you are around to build future cars that can be enjoyed by the rest of us. Look forward to seeing one soon.

As an Electrical Engineer and a driver in the 1990 GM Sunrayce from Florida Institute of Technology I'm really looking forward to owning this vehicle. I put off getting an EV1 until they changed the ‘lease only’ policy so… it never happened. Although I did get to test drive one at Stanford when I worked at HP. I hope your ‘attitude’ and strength of character are enough to keep plugging away even when the going gets tough. Don’t let this become another vapor-mobile!

Battery selection and design are always the most difficult obstacles to overcome. Your numbers sound like you really have something new that hasn’t been tried before. If any of the numbers are marketing hype shoot the marketing dept make the corrections. It will be impressive if you can beat the numbers posted on this web site by the time the car goes to production instead of appologizing for why you didn't meet them like most electric car start-ups.

Your web site is so professionally done and good looking I worry there could be more hype than substance but I am someone who has been disappointed before. I wish you luck and good fortune and hope to be driving one of these vehicles in the near future!

Gordon Aplin
Dallas Texas

Gary

6:55pm | Jul 22, 2006

Congratulations! Wonderful technology I have been waiting for and have always been ready to embrace. I wish the company luck. When the sedan is ready to roll and at an affordable price range I will be looking for the nearest dealer and contacting the Internet Sales Manager. Thanks for all the hard work!

Rick Hayhoe

8:20pm | Jul 22, 2006

Jaw dropping news. Read about the car in depth on your website, and it was jaw dropping all the way through.

By the way, don't engineer yourselves out of the option of installing right-hand steering and controls. This car, and other models as you progress, will sell well in Japan, where gasoline is currently around $5.00 per gallon and rising.

You are onto the right future. Hybrids don't deliver what they promised, and they already are looking like a dead end. Biodiesel looks good, but it may eventually be ruinous to agriculture. Complete independence from hydrocarbon fuel is the way. Now if only we can figure out how to do that with electric power generation.

Andre

8:50pm | Jul 22, 2006

Why are people comparing this to a Boxster? Even the best Boxster, the S, can only manage 0-60 in 5.7 seconds. The Tesla is almost 2 seconds faster. The Boxster is not in the same class. A Corvette or Viper SRT-10 is a better comparison, and those are $65k+ and $85k+ respectively. But they don't get 100mpg+ equivalent.

Also, for those complaining that the electricity used to charge the Tesla comes from coal, nuclear, etc., and is just as polluting as any car (or more), try reading the white paper on this site. It does a thorough analysis of efficiency of a normal gasoline-powered car (not good) versus the Tesla and the efficiency of the power plants it would likely get power from. The Tesla is so much more efficient, and the average power plant is more efficient, a lot less pollution is produced even if you get your power from something like coal. If you get your power from hydroelectric or nuclear or solar or wind, there is no greenhouse gas cost to the Tesla.

Others asked how are the batteries kept cool. How does a normal car keep its engine (relatively) cool? It produces 4x the waste heat the Tesla does. Clearly there's some kind of fan and cooling system for the batteries. Also when stopped the Tesla doesn't generate heat like gas cars do so there's nothing to cool. When moving there's plenty of air to help cool things.

For those tall people worried they may not fit in the car, try to find a Lotus dealer near you and see if you can fit in an Elise. If you can, the Tesla should be fine as well. Though if you're well over 6ft, you probably won't fit based on some reviews of the Elise I just read. Or you may fit but with the hardtop on you'll have a bit of fun getting in and out.

I'm glad most people here appreciate how groundbreaking this car is. I can't wait to get a closer look at one!

Steven Boyer

9:35pm | Jul 22, 2006

What is the full storage capacity of the battery(s)? How many watts does it consume? It may take 3 hours to \"juice up\" but how many volts does it hold? YOu never talk about that.

Dennis Tristao

10:27pm | Jul 22, 2006

A stylish conservative sedan for commute use, or pick-up for farm use would be great - when do expect that?

Milen

10:36pm | Jul 22, 2006

It must be exciting to work for you guys but you set criteria so high. I wonder how (un)traditional you are.

AndyTiedye

11:08pm | Jul 22, 2006

Since the body is made of carbon fiber, have you considered offering translucent color finishes the way Calfee does on their carbon-fiber bicycles?

Seems a shame to cover up all that lovely carbon fiber.

Richard H. Clise

11:19pm | Jul 22, 2006

Great car, but for me I'd need more room, more simplicity , and a lower price? Any chance of coming out with a sedan that is inexpensive, only goes eighty five mph, and will go three hundred miles on a charge? My brother and cousin would buy the sports car, but most folks have to be more practable and go for function over style? I also have a 9KW solar panel system on my roof, so my electric car (whatever I end up with, leaning towards a plug in Prius if I can't get an affordable all electric car) can be fueled by the sweet ol sun. Adios Rich

Michele Konrad

11:43pm | Jul 22, 2006

Great car! I'm excited that someone is finally doing this. So when does the SUV come out? I'd love to see something like a Porsche Cayenne or a BMW X5, but zero-emissions...

Steve Terry

12:11am | Jul 23, 2006

I am thrilled to see a serious effort to design and build an electric car for the American highway and American drivers. The auto industry will not move forward for the simple (and understandable) reason that the business can't break the inertia of a hundred years of making gas powered vehicles. Change must come from elsewhere and from people that bring a vision that is unencumbered by the status quo. A new Henry Ford to lead this industry into a new era. The timing is right for one to emerge soon. Will it be you?

I do understand why you are starting with the roadster. It makes perfect sense from a business point of view. Wealthy, social and political progressives will be a reliable and helpful test bed so that you can refine your product and integrate new technology before selling to the broader market. Besides, the economy of scale that would allow the production of an affordable sedan for the family market won't be possible until the costs of batteries and the other components come down. At that point, I expect to see you incorporate what you've learned into vehicles that will be competetive. And at that point, I will be waiting. I'd rather it be an American Company that I"m buying from. Good luck. I'll be watching.

The future of motoring has arrived as the electric car comes of age. What a wonderful machine! When are we going to see them in the rest of the world?

Jeff Spear

1:50am | Jul 23, 2006

This project appears to have successfully synthesized best of breed technologies. The result is a low development cost, at least compared with the $1 B spent by GM on the EV1. Kudos to you and your development team My thoughts are as follows:

First, I have to think that there are at least 5,000 bona fide customers per year for this car.

Second, this project showcases just how far electric vehicle technology has come in ten years. While the AC Propulsion system has been around for a good portion of that period of time, thanks are due to the laptop and mobile industries for developing the key difference between the Tesla and the EV1; high capacity batteries of low weight.

Third, inaugurating your company with a superlative sports car is brilliant. Unlike the SUV market, demand for over-the-top performance continues unabated. Selling a 500 horsepower car is commonplace now, even as gas approaches $3.50 per gallon. Tehre are few SUVs priced in the $8o $120 k range. There are a number of high-performance cars.

Finally, this is a road course car. Acceleration is a rush but any steroid-enhanced jalopy can turn a quarter mile in 12 seconds. Top end may be up there but most people don't drive every day on an oval track. This is a car for the Glen. Match it up against Carrera 4, Z06 and Viper to see who can turn the best times in the twisty turns and flat-out straights. I suspect that the Tesla will be a strong contender, if not the overall winner.

Such is the true test of a GT class car. Road & Track wil sell this to your market a whole lot faster than NPR.

All the best

Richard, from Switzerland

2:39am | Jul 23, 2006

A beautiful looking car - I hope it becomes available in Switzerland. I'm intrigued though - under the skin it looks so much like my Lotus Elise - extruded aluminium bonded chassis with big box side members - about the same wheelbase - front hood styling with vents very similar. Since Lotus have often stated that their bonded chassis technology is aimed at small-volume manufacturers, I'd love to know if some components came from Lotus. No bad thing if that's true, the Elise is a wonderful platform, and I've often thought how great it would be if a battery version was available. For those who are interested, an Elise weighs about 1750 pounds and is (currently) about the most fun you can have when not in bed.

John Zollinger

3:41am | Jul 23, 2006

I love your sports car, but can I get a Dodge Grand Caravan version? I have 4 kids, yet I would love to zip around with that kind of power. Also the roof would be far larger for your solar cells. (Now I want to beg, but I think I made my point, and so has your company. Thank you)

John

noel

4:01am | Jul 23, 2006

umm... where's the wallpaper?

at least i can afford the download... 8)

Jonathan Kollin

5:06am | Jul 23, 2006

I heard about Tesla on Marketplace on NPR. I had, two weks earlier, been looking at EV's because of the new movie. I do not live in any of the new potential markets for the vehicle and this saddens me, because my family fits the profile, we drive about 250 miles a week, most is commuting, but don;t want a car that looks like a roller skate and drives like a bicycle.

In my market you are probably looking for people with deep pockets to establish a franchise. If Isuch a consortium could be put together, would you consider Baltimore-Washington as another 2007 market? What would be the financial conditions/automotive experieince conditions of such a consortium to get your attention?

As to the question why a high end $80-100K version first? R&D costs need to be recovered. It is more lucrative to sell a few high end vehicels, and less risky, than to produce thousand of mid price ($35-50K) vehicles and end up, dare I say, like let's see: Yugo, Daewoo, Oldsmobile, EV1, even DeLorean took his vehicle to high end buyers. And the discretionary money is more readily available from those who can afford a $100K roadster, look at the list of those units already sold. So when you recover the costs, I will be waiting for the chance to
A) purchase the vehicle in my market
B) buy the franchise
C) look forward to drving the first of what is hoped to be planet saving vehicles

I'll keep an eye on you, for now.

Rick

5:14am | Jul 23, 2006

I`d like to see a video about this car that I can download.If I missed it,I`m sorry.

dan

5:37am | Jul 23, 2006

What steps have you taken to insure we don't end up with another "delorean motor company"
seriously, Bricklin, etc. all had great ideas, and well funded. please let us know.

Steven Habiague

5:59am | Jul 23, 2006

Martin,

Congratulations. The comments from Colin Leach above (July 20, 4:10am) are right on the money. Your car makes up for the energy policy we desperately need but do not yet have.

I like ythe Tesla. The range is acceptable, it looks good and (coming from Lotus) it must be fun to drive. But the main reason for driving your car is that it provides real support for our troops and addresses some of our fundamental problems.

When every car on the road is a Tesla we can bring our troops home and say "thanks but no thanks" to our foreign oil suppliers. Changing to electric cars helps reduce our unsustainable trade deficit, frees us from future interventions in the middle east, does something about climate change and it's a policy our entire country can support!

Make it work, we need it badly.

Steven Habiague

Jeremy Jones

6:27am | Jul 23, 2006

The product looks truly groundbreaking. Hopefully, with the upcoming battery technology breakthroughs, you can drop the price, extend the range, increase the safety, and even drastically reduce the charging time. I'm sure you've seen them, but A123 Systems seems to think they have all these battery limitations solved with their MIT licensed LiOns.

I can't wait to see it in person.

Bill Blake

6:33am | Jul 23, 2006

You've finally done it (at least, I believe you will do it but I've been wrong before).

I've been following electric vehicles since I was a kid and have seen a lot of duds as I'm sure you have. You have the right idea...build the car that people want to drive....and oh ya, it's electric too. Sadly enough too many "environmentalists" don't believe in the free market. So all environmentalists who try to build electric cars create tiny cars that nobody wants and don't do it in a way that will make them money, making their first car and going on tour showing all of their friends how great they are for the environment. It's no surprise that their business never goes anywhere and they end up doing nothing for the environment in return. Please don't turn this into your environmental soapbox and never produce anything.

A sports car is perfect too. Sports cars can be small and carry only two people because that's what people expect from a sports car, they're not buying it to go on family vacations. This helps with the huge question of weight for electric vehicles. Electric motors are good for acceleration which is perfect for sports cars. The only other vehicle that's expected to be light and not for the family are motorcycles (no, not scooters).

You have a great idea. You will be successful. Don't let others interfere with this...you're going in the right direction. Make it happen.

With DaimlerChrysler announcing that they will be bringing the Smart car to the USA, will you introduce a small commuter car in the future? With most cars probably being occupied with 1 person 90% of the time, a small 1 seater vehicle (or 2 person in tandem like a motorcycle) would solve the congestion problem of highways in major metropolitan areas and would be coveted by people that live in cities like New York. You could park the thing sideways like a motorcycle!

Are you talking to the folks at A123 Systems? Their batteries are already in power tools and apparently FAR outperform anything else on the market. Safer too.

Vladimir

7:29am | Jul 23, 2006

Congratulations,

This is racing machine

I would prefer that you developed every day vehicle, with 30-50 HP, based on smart roadster, and with price tag about 20 -25 K.

Something like that would be much more affordable, for the rest of us.

Can we hope to see something like that ?

Joshua

7:30am | Jul 23, 2006

Where is Al Gore when you really need him ? ? ?

Al shut up and promote Tesla Motors !

matthew

7:37am | Jul 23, 2006

IIts great to see that someone is acually selling the electric version of the Lotus Elise. What a shame when the latest significant nnovation in the car actually comes from England, just after the British owned manufacturers have all given up. All that the UK has is BMW, Ford, Nissan, Honda and Toyota assembling their products. Maybe it will be a renaissance.

Melanie

7:47am | Jul 23, 2006

I am interested in the progress of this car into the market and of course buying one. I am on a budget, like many Americans, and do hope that this car will be outfitted and priced to fit a variety of income levels, from basic to luxury models. We ALL need to get on the electric car circuit!!! Every one of us, so we need an electric car that doesn't cost $35,000 plus.

Thanks for contributing to a cleaner world.

bill

8:01am | Jul 23, 2006

i might just buy one of these.
i would think that GM would purchase your company in a minute, and honda is going to copy you.
looking at your board i see paypal etc.
to put it another way, a lot of people who became wealthy selling their start-ups.
there is nothing wrong with that...unless they buy you to squash you.

the concept to obvious.
lets meditate on why no one has done it before...
i wish you all the luck in the world and please make sure if GM buys your company they
will take care of your former customers.

Jeff O'Neill

8:30am | Jul 23, 2006

Love the car. What are your plans for the Atlanta, GA area and what is the price?

I'm counting the days until we can see one in person. It will be great if the TV and media cover any display and test drives. This is a big step in auto history.
Jim

stevenaples

9:05am | Jul 23, 2006

I want to thank you folks for getting this done. I knew it would take a Bill Gates type to get it done. I have been driving a prius from the beginning and have purchased many more for my employees to drive as well.

I am so grateful that this is happening. It's sick for this to have taken so long. Ofcourse we will all buy a great looking electric car if there was one. Thank you on behalf of mother earth and our children.

Not to mention everyones pocketbooki. How do I buy a franchise to sell them???????

Yours,
Steve Naples, Colorado.

Matt

9:11am | Jul 23, 2006

Can't wait for you to offer the family friendly 4 door!! I'd buy it now if it were available. Fort Mill, SC

TEG

9:59am | Jul 23, 2006

Suggestion: keyless starting like on the Prius and other new models.
Having an ID key in your pocket and a start button on the dashboard is a very nice feature which appears to be lacking on the Tesla prototypes.

Also, will the Tesla be able to charge from the "inductive paddle style" charging stations like the ones that were built for the EV1?

Your site says "free parking at charging stations" but can you recharge there?

Chis B

10:05am | Jul 23, 2006

I have heard rumors that this car is going to be released at 80 to 120 thousand bucks! What are you guys trying to do? You are coming into the market with something new and fresh and something that I have been saying for a long time, which is if someone could make a car that looked good and had hybrid or electric technology that it would sell, it i the refusal of all these other companies to conform to what peole want that is the reason for the dimise of these other cars. This car may perform well but pricing it that high will make it infinately underperform other vehicles in the same price bracket, therefore making this car way too high of a price for what it is trying to accomplish (if you are truely more concerned about environment and freedom from oil than the almighty dollar). I think that you guys have come out with a good concept but I do urge you to read the history books, and put special emphasis on the chapter about a man named John Z. Delorean! I hope that you guys are successful, but I know that i will not buy one, not because I can't mind you, but because if I am spending that kind of dough on a car I better be able to do everything I want with it, including drive 300 miles in one shot. Good idea, Good Luck

Chris B. California

Mike

10:29am | Jul 23, 2006

Logical indeed. Crude Oil is yesterdays news. This is a paradigm shift of thinking. Transfer this technology to the SUV market and move the gas hogs out of Yukons and into Tesla SUV's, please! Nikola Tesla had the answer over 50 years ago, yet we as a collective species chose to promote a destrucive technology called crude oil. We have perhaps damaged our habitat called earth to a point dangerously close to beyond repair, Tesla motors is a quantum leap in the right direction. Combine the latest in WiFi and GPS technology to give drivers better travel options thereby further saving energy. Incorporate latest solar technology into the vehicle "skin" to further improve on an already effecient design. Bravo fellas !

Sam Schroeder

11:01am | Jul 23, 2006

The electric vehicle has a very stylish look and feel. I'm all for removing my dependency on oil! Great job!

The million $$$ question is... How much is it going to cost?

If it turns out to be reliable and has a low cost to maintain, look out. You will have a winner.

Sam

Pat Foley

11:07am | Jul 23, 2006

I recently saw the film \"Who Killed the Electric Car?\"

I\'m wondering if your company has any long range plans for marketing a car that would be practical and affordable to the general public?!

it's about time that an exciting electric car is built... this could be the start of real energy independance while retaining the fun and excitement of DRIVING... best of luck! can't wait to see them for real.

Joshua

11:12am | Jul 23, 2006

Where is Bill Gates when you really need him ?

Go Go Go Google Guys and Company !

MiMi

11:26am | Jul 23, 2006

I read a wonderful biography of Nicola Tesla-he was such a genius he made my head spin and so ahead of his time-on some things he still is. I was thrilled to see a news item re: Tesla Motors on TV last nite so I googled you up to find out more. So glad car company is named after him-finally this man is getting some recognition and with the high cost of energy-blood money and war I expect all forms of alternative enery to take off fast. Best of luck with this new car company-its so exciting.

R Garcia MD

11:34am | Jul 23, 2006

I hope this is truly just the beginning for you guys. Today the sports car... tomorrow the SUV!!! Then, I'll have to buy my wife one.

I have such a har*-*n for this car -- i hope I can afford it when the lease on my 2005 Jag XK8 expires...

Finally...................the truth about Marconi has again surfaced. Thanks for bringing
Mr. Teslas name back into the American mainstream.

Alex

12:51pm | Jul 23, 2006

Great job!! It's fantastic to finally see an electric car that knows how to move and has the right looks. Martin, I'm looking forward to seeing what all you at Tesla Motors have in the coming years; hopefully with a litlte bit of time (and money) I'll own one of your vehicles down the road. Wishing you the best of luck!!

Printninja

1:05pm | Jul 23, 2006

This is the future. Please go public ASAP so I can buy stock. I have no doubt this is the catalyst for the next evolution in personal transportation.

We are located on Long Island, 40 mins away from Manhattan. Please feel free to email me... my company would love to work with you in your efforts to build a marketing presence here in NY. I've already sold two roadsters for you.

BTW - to people complaining that Tesla Motors should have built a family sedan or mini-van, get a clue! You need to understand that a company that is trying to change the world needs to get ATTENTION. Sales to wealthy people will no doubt fund the R&D required to make better, and more importantly AFFORDABLE, electric vehicles for the masses to buy. Telsa Motor's approach is nothing short of brilliant. I am continuously amazed at the lack of insight in the common consumer, but I suppose that's exactly why they aren't among the wealthy.

Scott

1:34pm | Jul 23, 2006

For the love of god, please expand your business.. this approach may be the only way to wean people off of gasoline permanently. The eletric sportscar lends power and credibility to sustainable fuel approaches, and if you can turn this into a major player on the automotive scene I think you'll have a surefire winner.

I'll buy one once you get the cost down to $50-60k. 85 is a bit steep for me :)

Hugh

1:46pm | Jul 23, 2006

I've looked at the Lotus Elise several times over the past few years and I still don't fit as I'm too tall, very disappointing. Don’t get me wrong I love small sports cars and absolutely abhor pick-ups and SUV’s I’m just “cursed” with too much height for many vehicles. After reading much of this blog and looking at many photos, both here and on other sites I've come to the conclusion that the Tesla is an electric Lotus Elise. However at its 80 to 120 thousand asking price I could purchase two Lotuses’s $51,600 and still not fit. So until there is a realistically sized alternative to the internal combustion engines pollution of the atmosphere I will have to continue to purchase vehicles designed for full size adults. Porsche designs all of their vehicles for “real” people from the Boxster S $54,700 to the 911 Turbo $122,900. Does anyone remember the MGB? It had plenty of leg room, but the US government regulated it to death. Volvo had its 1800E/ES, again plenty of leg room. Mazda came out with its Lotus Elan/MGB wana-be Miata, too small for many. Ford has it’s designed for women’s proportions Mustang, again too small. Have designers neglected to remember that the vehicles they are designing have to be large enough to contain the market segment driver they were intended for? Great idea the electric car and I wish you well, however not everyone is 5’-8” in height.

Dominik

1:48pm | Jul 23, 2006

Hi!

I read about your car on austian newspaper (nur austrilia :P) and I just want to gratulate you to your awesome car. The car has a very nice desgin and the performance is just incredible. Sure its still expenive but I jope in maybe five years with better batteries and a higher amount of produced cars the price will drop. So when you reach a price between 40-50k $ I will defintly buy one from you when they are avialable in austria.

This is a gorgeous car that should be very fast and a lot of fun. However to change the world everyone needs to have to ability to buy one, and $85,000 won't support a growing market. I suppose if you go into mass production, you will lower costs. Why not offer a very basic model, cloth interior, non-metallic paint, lower performance brakes, smaller wheels, and fiberglass bodywork?

RC Stilwell

3:43pm | Jul 23, 2006

Congratulations!
1. You have a huge potential market for an affordable EV.
2. Your approach to motor vehicles threatens the conventional car companies, and the oil companies. You now have a great big target on your back.
3. If you can't be bought, sued, or co-opted, every effort will be made to subvert & destroy you.
4. 3 books for everyone who wants to see EVs succeed, and the fossil-fuel stranglehold broken, are The Car That Could, Michael Shnayerson; Taken For A Ride, Jack Doyle; The Electric Vehicle And The Burden Of History, David Kirsch.

You stand on the brink of an historic breakthrough. Be Careful, Be Wise, and don't let them break you before you succeed.

If you're interested in the services of a Transportation Sociologist, I'm available.
Good Luck,
RC Stilwell

Why has it taken this long for someone to come up with a truly fantastic product? The answer to that hit me when I read about how often the car needs maintenance and you listed the items that gasoline vehicles have that electric ones don't such as air filters, fuel filters, oil, oil filters, spark plugs etc. I'll be the first in line to buy one. Thanks for leading the way. It's this type of thinking that will keep the morons in the car industry from being able to label you as another "tree hugging" car company with a punishment car. This is the best. Go public sooooon!!

Keith Newton

4:24pm | Jul 23, 2006

Los Angeles citing:

I had the opportunity to see the vehicle at the car museum this weekend. For those who haven't seen it ITS BETTER IN PERSON! I am intersted to see how comfortable the seats are since I couldn't get in it. They seemed very thin...

The interest in the car seemed blazing hot - the sales lady was intelligent and informative. Great idea with the "signature series".

Overall 10 out of 10.

Great Job!

David Stone

4:53pm | Jul 23, 2006

I just saw a story on our local news in San Diego and ran to check out your website. The concept, technology, and prototype seems to be exactly what public is looking for. I'm an angle investor and am interested in learning about possible investments in your company....

Herb Holmes

4:56pm | Jul 23, 2006

Nice job folks, but I'm waiting for the first Tesla aircraft to appear. Solar panels on the wings to charge the batteries. I will test fly it for you.

These are exciting times.

Herb Holmes

Jason Edwards

5:57pm | Jul 23, 2006

Hello,

Any plans of mass-producing it for the "common man"? I see that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has made a public appearance on your behalf. And I hope that you will stand behind your morals and integrity to compete with the big Gas and Car Corporations.

Sincerely,
Jason Edwards

tony alfrey

5:58pm | Jul 23, 2006

Can you comment on your motor technology and how it compares to the system (made by ac propulsion) used in the wrightspeed car? On the surface, it seems that performance, range and efficiency are in the same ballpark as for the wrightspeed car (except, of course, that the wrightspeed car strictly a race car).

In addition, any load monitoring/modulating tricks that might be applied to increase range
would, I think, be a valuable option for those who may be willing to trade off performance for range. I will guess that potential market size will increase exponentially with range.

You have no idea how many college graduates would go for something like this. Give financing incentives to put kids into a new Tesla. Even if you weren't to make a killing from this, it would set a manufacturing precedent that would give Detroit a run for the money, possibly forcing them to start competing for the market share, which you would have so handily won.

But I think you're definitely set in the right direction by offsetting the stereotypes with electric cars. You're exactly in the position you need to be.

J. Abraham

6:39pm | Jul 23, 2006

Awesome work done by all involved! I am glad that your company is able to build more "environmentally friendly" vehicles and still keep in line with expectations of a sports car. I would very much be looking forward to a 4-5 passanger elctric car that delivers on what is expected from a "people mover", still produces good numbers, and is more affordable....something that the average person in the USA can buy. Still, this is a great accomplishment. Good job!

I am excited about TESLA electric cars coming to the market. I am hoping for a model with room for four
and wanted to know if that may be an option. Also I am interested in bidding small run production parts
if you plan to sub out . Please e mail any info , particularly if the bids involve close tolerance NC type
criteria.
Vince

T.N. Hill

7:16pm | Jul 23, 2006

When I first gazed eyes of your conception of perfection almost shed a tear of joy, over 100 mph and long range capabilities, you have to excuse me I am tearing up now. Okay, how can an unfortunate bloke like myself, join the bandwagon and setup a sales outlet in north Florida? Thanks, and keep up the excellent work.

T.

Alpha Lowe

7:18pm | Jul 23, 2006

Do I have any chance to be your share holder?
I am managing a pension fund in Taiwan, and I thought Tesla is a good idea to combine life style and environmental conservation which will be key issues of our future.

Tom M.

7:24pm | Jul 23, 2006

A well known actor bought an electric car for over $100,000.00 I read. Zap is saying they will import a high performance electric car from Brazil next year, for $50,000.00.
What is the price area for the Tesla Motors car?

Tony Belding

7:25pm | Jul 23, 2006

I love the website, it's easy to navigate and has lots of great info. That's a refreshing change from so many I've seen. It may be a while before I can afford a Roadster, but it's on my wish list! I find an amusing twist that this car became possible after California got out of mandating electric cars from the big car companies. It just shows how trying to legislate progress can backfire, but the entrepreneurial spirit is still alive in America. Oh, and I think it's cool to see a scientist's name on the tail of a hot sports car! I'm sure Nikola Tesla would be proud of it.

Bob Anderson

7:43pm | Jul 23, 2006

OhMyGosh, There is intelligent life in the universe. How much fun. I'd like a test drive and to make a deposit. I agree with RC; Beware, they will try to destroy you

netscape1971

8:34pm | Jul 23, 2006

This could quite literally be a major driving force in saving the planet - from the US perspective.
I will do my best to advertise your products.
Hopefully you will come out with an inexpensive car that most Americans can afford.
Might want to get an extra set of bodyguards to mitigate the risk of Big Oil hitmen.

John Acheson

9:01pm | Jul 23, 2006

Electrics were first, then came Porsche's hybrid in 1912, the EV-1 and now Tesla!

According to Clayton and "The Innovator's Dilemma," you may have answered the trajectory question in analyzing disruptive technology...

The exciting thing about electrics before Tesla was that they were worse: lower top speeds, shorter range and very slow 0-60 times!!! That met the definition of disruptive!!! Big companies cannot afford to pursue new markets with worse technology.

That opens the door for Tesla...But Clayton's analysis shows that the most successful companies make markets, find new markets, and improve the technology. For example, flash memory had less capacity but then came the iPod killer ap, new market and boom, flash will probably kill the spinning drive industries...

You may think your customers are Ferrari owners or automobile enthusiasts or even environmentalsists, BUT FOR ELECTRICS TO DISRUPT THE AUTO INDUSTRY according to CLAYTON'S INNOVATOR DILEMMA, YOU OR THE CUSTOMER DOES NOT KNOW THE APPLICATION FOR TESLA TECHNOLOGY YET...

In summary, I encourage you to develop a learning organization and I applaud the entrepreneurial discovery that you are making, for example with the motor showing us that bigger is better in more than one way...

I look forward to related and supported industries and Valley technology birthing new exciting unknowns in the future of movement and electricity, CHEERS AND GREAT START!!!

rob hirsch

9:37pm | Jul 23, 2006

Very exciting technology. I was wondering if the Tesla folks have researched the new carbon graphite foam battery for electricity storage. Supposedly a cheaper technology and perhaps comparable to Li-ion power density. Their site is below.

From what i have read on your website, you guys have done a truly amazing job. probably the most impressive vehicle ive seen ever. congratulations. only thing is i hope you guys can keep the price down out of the hundred thousand dollar range so that i can buy one. i was amazed by this car.

henry hacker

10:41pm | Jul 23, 2006

I would like to see this car marketed as an energy freedom package along with a roof/home solar energy system or wind energy system that would make the car nearly completely independent from commerical (yikes) energy providers. Then again, maybe they too could join the bandwagon and enhance the development, marketing, maintenance, and support of 21st energy systems so these corporations dont become fossils like the fuel they peddle (or hose down our throats). You are welcome to ask me to help with execution of such a horrible market strategy as I am due to retire from the military in a couple of years LOL!!

I cannot wait to purchase the Tesla...after all I invented the battery operated hat (aka Laser Hats) and Shoelaces (aka Laser Laces) so I can relate to battery life.

This innovative car is bliss in its finest form. Regardless of some negative spectators views it is excellent to see someone in the world that is creating something that will help with the days of record breaking heat indexes.

It is also great to see any kind of positive development that will allow us to make progress towards a better life for our younger generations.

With all the hate in the world… my hat is off to anyone who is willing to test the power of optimistic day to day questioning.

I look forward to the delivery of the car. Hopefully Tesla Motors will sell several million of them!

Are you planning to field a racing team or supply a privateer support for racing modifications to field a team? This vehicle would be a natural platform for a SCCA class of all-electric racers. I would like to participate in such a program as a privateer if this is in the works, or if not, to help it be...

Timothy McGhee

12:01am | Jul 24, 2006

I'm wondering if there is a facility set up to begin a mass production or assembly line? in that the price of the car should drop in price.If you did set up an assembly line plant to produce the cars ,how much would the United States weigh into the location of such a plant? Like Ford and GM have discovered ,if you lay people off you tend to lose them as customers, and sales drop off.If a plant is created here (in the U.S.) it could only help with the support and sales of the cars/trucks created. I wish you the best of luck though I cannot afford such a car at the moment I am so very happy that someone out there is not just talking about enviorment but doing something about it and I would hope to buy an all electric car,when I could afford it of course.Good Job Guys and Ladies.

A new documentary 'film, Who killed the electric car?' suggests the GM EV1 and other cars came under huge pressure from big oil/big auto who were determined to crush them into history.

With your car, you've more or less killed off the 'poor performance', 'milkfloat', 'unsexy', 'unviable', 'no demand' charges levelled at EVs. Would you ever 'sell out' should a big-name car company buy you out to bury you?

Hopefully, with a new awareness of electric cars among the public even an attempt to see off a new breed of EVs simply wouldn't be possible.

That said, having spent hours slowly chugging down the motorway at 30pmh in hire car last night, simply replacing vehicles with non-oil alternatives will not end the encouragement vast urban sprawl nowhere near jobs and amenities, evermore severe congestion and traffic jams, constant road building, help create more safe, car-free urban spaces, etc. I like well engineered cars but in many more densely populated nations there are far, far too many of them, clean or not.

Great company name.

A. Willard

1:29am | Jul 24, 2006

I'm wishing the Tesla car company a HUGE success and that this will be the final breakthrough for electric cars. I have always been a fan of Nicola Tesla and a successful car bearing his name would be the greatest thing! I'm hoping to drive my own Tesla car someday.

Jacques MARLOT

1:54am | Jul 24, 2006

Congratulations for marketing the TESLA Roadster ; it is the most wonderful car I have ever dreamed and I am anxious to buy it as soon as possible.
As I live in Belgium, I ask you for reconsidering your decision (found in your FAQ's) : "We will not sell a Tesla Roadster to anyone outside of the continental US".
Such a discrimination can hardly be accepted.
Please hurry up ! Many car lovers are waiting for a TESLA Roadster !
Good luck !

Richard Dixon

2:00am | Jul 24, 2006

Hurry up and export it to Australia............

Jacob Mathew

2:37am | Jul 24, 2006

Thank you for your remarkable contribution to the automotive world and the greater world we all share. This is an extraordinary achivement in style, performance, efficiency, and ecology. I wish you the greatest of success, and I look forward to the day that I may have the honor to drive a Tesla.

Mr Carroll C MArkley

3:06am | Jul 24, 2006

When do you plan to take the company public? Are their any investment opportunities available?

Dave

3:54am | Jul 24, 2006

The car is great and I hope it catches on although I wonder how the power grid could handle the increased load from mass produced electric cars. How do the batteries hold up in cold weather?

Kurt Walther

3:55am | Jul 24, 2006

Looks like a real winner.
Major question - HOW MUCH?
To appeal to the masses, to make a splash, to wean USA from the oil... it must be accessable to the masses.

Cost is the biggest factor/hurdle you must conquer.
Please tell me it is affordable!

Guys I am in love. I want nothing more than to be the first kid on the block with a desirable, high performance electric car. Why?

1. I hate the mentality of the oil companies - sell it and make as much money as possible, before it runs out, and before people finally realise we are destroying earth
2. The very idea of pistons is ludicrous except in the absence of a better alternative. Here is the better alternative!
3. Locomotives, electric tools and my little RC Cars always impress me with the power they generate with electricity. Electric works at every possible scale!
4. Quiet, smooth and simple operation saves money, saves energy, and saves wear and tear.
5. Batteries will always improve - leave it to the mobile electronics industry to make sure of that. Your mobile phone and laptop manufacturers will be paving the way for larger applications of their amazing energy density power systems

Keep it up - I hope the roadster paves the way for family cars, SUVs and people movers too. I hope they all look as good! Love your work

Perhaps now that a company has delivered a practical (range, if not price/size) EV, Tesla Motors could lobby Federal/State Govrernments to sponsor a range solution for all EV owners: Example --- If you own an EV you can use (free of charge) a rental car from national rental car companies for use on longer trips (vacation/road trips etc.). This would eliminate most if not all consumers concerns about range, while within probably a few short years, energy storage capacity and charge time will reach a point where such alternatives won't be neccessary.

If all consumers (American) drove at the least a plug-in hybrids or cars with equivalent efficiency (EVs) would eliminate our dependence on foreign oil plus keep the billions here in America.

I commend you Tesla for what you have achieved thus far.

Ed Weissman

5:21am | Jul 24, 2006

Wow. Make it real.

Paolo Zanotti

5:52am | Jul 24, 2006

How many kw/h does it absorbs during recharge?

Brian

5:53am | Jul 24, 2006

I am very interested in seeing what this car is like. It seems like you're the only people who know what they are doing when it comes to advancing the world's dependency on petroleum products (even though the electric that is used to charge this up is probably generated by some form of oil).

Congratulations and i look forward to seeing what new things you come out with.

Kyle

5:53am | Jul 24, 2006

Nice looking car! Someone who finally decided to take on the biggest downfall of EV, ugly and slow cars, head on and seemingly win.

I echo the sentiments that changing the auto world will require a sedan model ASAP. Take a cue from Toyota and subsidize so you can turn a much bigger profit later. IF you can get the sedan to the market before anyone else and provide a suitable service agreement/area you can truly be an innovator on this project.

I am also interested in one responder's question about a EV motorcycle. Is there a weight "sweet spot" in that size?

Bring it out to Denver. Good luck and as soon as something affordable hits I'll be getting one. Even if I have to travel out to CA. :)

I live on the East Coast...Westchester County, New York to be specific. I'm just and old long haired environmental hippie here...being a bit tongue in cheek.

Anyway, I would love to work with your company in any capacity I could in fostering/developing sales here in my area of the country. I don't have money to invest in your company, but I have time, and would be willing to work for free in exchange for being a part of this dream, and having the opportunity to carve out a niche for myself in the next GREAT CHAPTER of the American Automobile as it is being written.

Benchmark pricing changes as demand grows, and a company moves from limited production to mass production of their product. Look at almost anything that is a part of our day to day life in 2006. Computers (PC's) have dropped dramatically in price in the past few years, while the technology inside the units has grown by leaps and bounds. I can remember when my Dad paid almost $500.00 for a Texas Instrucments calculator...now we can buy calculators that do far more for less than $20. There is a price to be paid to be one of the pioneers, that proverbial first kid on the block to have the latest and greatest new toy.

Lisa rights about a FAMILY car...I think we all know, that a family car would not capture the attention necessary at the car shows this vehicle is being debuted at. Sleek styling, beautiful contours and a serious mass of muscle under the hood will get you noticed. I'd be willing to bet money here that there is already on paper, if not in design a more family oriented version of this car.

Porgie Tirebiter

Juan abreut

8:13am | Jul 24, 2006

Great vehicle, can wait to be mass produce. Now I can say that there is an electric vehicle, that can be looked at. I now conviced that it can be done. keep up the good work.

Nicole Radmore

8:15am | Jul 24, 2006

I just saw Who Killed The Electric Car ? and was feeling quite despondent about our environmental plight and then I found out about your company. I'm hoping that circumventing the big automakers is the answer to mass use of electric vehicles.

However, for those of us who merely want a 4 door sedan (under the $100,000 list price for this vehicle) - please, please, please come up with an affordable alternative. With the price of gasoline as it is now, I guarantee that you will have an insane waiting list if the price point is around $30,000.

Eric S.

8:48am | Jul 24, 2006

I'm very excited to see one in person! I agree with the poster that said if you can get this car in the $50,000 range (or less) you won't be able to make enough of them. Even if the range before a recharge is required is short, this would be a wonderful 'around towner.'

Good luck!

Morgan

8:55am | Jul 24, 2006

The good and the bad!

This is truly a beautiful car and I love the specs, what I don't like is the audience its going after. I can see it now...those hummer driving soccer moms and and escalade driving commuters will buy one because they can afford it...will they sell their hummer? No...they will continue to own a hummer and a Tesla which sort of makes me sick. They will consume just because they can.

I look forward to the day that the masses can purchase an attractive, functional and well built EV as their primary car...your stats say it...the average person drives 29 miles per day...why do these people need a hummer and a Tesla?

It's just sad that those that can afford to drive your vehicle are probably doing it for the wrong reasons! But perhaps the Tesla isn't being built for the reasons a lot of us had hoped are the reasons.

I'll hold on to the thought that this will eventually pave the way for EV's for the mass...not just the small, but wealthy group that has no problem owning a hummer and a Tesla! I'm hoping a company in partnership with technology and the environment will produce a car in the Corolla, Civic, Cobalt price range...then things wouldn't seem so trendy and elite!

Cheers...

aeroeng212

9:27am | Jul 24, 2006

One of the most awesome cars that I've ever seen! Such power out of a electrically-powered engine. Based off such a different, original concept (design of the engine, that is). I find the concept of Regenerative Braking extremely fascinating! One of the best examples of utilizing every "waste" product (even heat) as an energy source.

Keep up the great work!

Bill

9:29am | Jul 24, 2006

Great car. Have you thought about making a quick-change battery assembly? I look at the consumer model for refueling cars (5 minutes in and out), barbecue propane tanks (don't refill it, swap your rusted empty for a repaired full), or even electric fork lifts (swap the batteries) and I wonder why eveyone is so intent on the "plug it in" model. Yes, the fuel may be cheaper if you stay tethered to your home, but suppose I want to drive cross-country for vacation. Or suppose I don't want to buy $75K worth of batteries every few years; I would rather amortize the cost of the batteries over a few thousand refills.
Also keep in mind that the oil companies are not in the oil business, they are in the energy supply business. If they could make more money supplying batteries rather than gasoline, they would do it in a heartbeat. Refueling stations could cater to gasoline and electric. Maybe it is cheaper to charge the batteries at Boulder Dam and then ship them by rail to LA rather than connecting to the grid in LA. A large company could make use of that economy of scale much better than an individual could.

David Horn

9:44am | Jul 24, 2006

Good for you. I knew that someone would eventually build an EV that has sales potential in and of itself. I also know that the early adopters of such a vehicle are going to be special people, and I don't resent the fact that your early adopters will be the well healed. Who better to make a concept like yours a reality. After all, HDTV started with high-end product, too.

I would like to add my voice to others that hope this is a first product with more utilitarian siblings yet to be born. I can't afford this car, but I'll be first in line to buy one I can afford. Based on past practice with new concepts, I'll be writing you a check in, say, 5 to 7 years.

Jason D

10:28am | Jul 24, 2006

Okay, I like the car. It's great, fantastic, overdue...in fact, it's been obvious for years that someone should be making this car or one like it.

The question that I have is a simple one, one that you've refused to answer for another year or so: How much will it cost? I mean, really, you can give us a ballpark estimate here to let me know if it's out of my price range. Is the car going to be $20,000? (There would be no other cars on the road in 5 years if you could provide it at that cost) or is it going to cost $200,000? How about a range: "The car should cost between $60,000 and $80,000"...

At this point you're almost being mean, not giving us a range. Let people know if the car is in their price range!!

How many average citizens were online back in say 1993? Even if one were fortunate enough to have a computer, getting online for many was COST PROHIBITIVE. They used to charge by the minute, and at that time, the closest nod where I could sign on to the internet was a LONG DISTANCE CALL, so I was being double dinged, as were many of us. Now a family can afford a fairly decent computer for around $6-800 if they skip some of the hoots and whistles, and unlimited access via cable modem is less than $40 a month. Even flat screen monitors are considered standard gear, so do not lose faith. Reality of design and productions costs means that those with a new idea FIRST have to target the wealthy and elite...it is their money which paves the way into mass production...might not be pretty, but it is the way of life. So, instead of worrying about who this car is marketed to, instead hope that THEY ABSOLUTELY ADORE IT, as the more units they purchase, the sooner the time will come when this vehicle is affordable to the Average American.

Porgie Tirebiter

PS....IF Testa needs someone to road test this car in stop and go, East Coast (New York) conditions, I'd be more than happy to volunteer and run a daily blog on said real life testing...I'll even put up digital pictures!

David Navas

10:49am | Jul 24, 2006

Congratulations, folks -- I think this is a tremendous step forward. One small (but not quick) comment on the battery front. I think it is a mistake to believe that just because you are unlikely to have an effect on the battery market as a whole, that you cannot have an effect on battery development. While it is true that you are unlikely to be able to affect those axis of battery development that are pursued aggressively by laptop makers (wh/kg, safety, price), there are many other axis of improvement that are needed for auto-use (cycle-life, calendar life, discharge and charge rates). Laptop makers don't need batteries that last 15-20 years -- we do.

There are companies that are pursuing those other avenues, and talking to them (at least!) makes sense. I have talked to several of them -- for a one-off conversion, the pricing is insane, but for the kind of volume you would be talking about, pricing can come down by a factor of 4. It may be insufficient for your needs, but some of the pricing is certainly within batting distance of the $500/kwh range. Regardless, a factor of four is a potentially large return for a relatively small price(1-2 mil). Some of these guys build batteries with >2000 cycles at >10C discharge rates, and some have some very nice charge rates along with safety improvements -- at least look! Here's a list I can think of off the top of my head (some may not be around anymore, sadly): Kokam, CompactPower (LGChem), EnerDel, A123, Altair Nano, Electrovaya. Then there are the long shots like EEStor -- big engineering task to handle the voltage swings, but 50kwh in 400lbs would be pretty sweet. [And that kind of energy storage is unlikely to be pursued by laptop makers -- 3500V in a laptop?!....] Note: EEStor is running fairly silent, so, apply salt liberally.

Anyway, don't sell your lever short -- it's not how big it is, it's how you use it :>

Best of luck,
-Dave

PS: More info on solar option, please!

Steve Myers

11:20am | Jul 24, 2006

I am intrigued by your creation. Now let's if you can convince me to sell my Porsche to buy one.

Daniel P

12:04pm | Jul 24, 2006

Martin,

You and your company have created/engineered a beautiful car whether it was an electric or a gas vehicle. The timing is perfect for your vehicle to hit the market with Global Warming being debated and our dependence on Foreign Oil, but I do have one question which is will a driver like myself who is 6' 1" fit inside the new Tesla? Or will your car only accommodate smaller drivers?

Surya

1:21pm | Jul 24, 2006

Dear Tesla Motors,

I have been a car fanatic ever since I was a toddler. Now that I am on the verge of getting my first job, I have been contemplating what sort of cars to buy. Nissan 350Z with nismo parts, Lexus IS 350 hybrid etc....I threw away all those lists. This will be my first car!

THank you for making dreams come to a reality!

Charles Hill

1:48pm | Jul 24, 2006

I'm just an average guy with an average daily commute and a budget. I would drive more and enjoy an improved quality of life if my gasoline bill was zero. But, even if I take every available tax credit and finance the installation of photovoltaic shingles on my garage for charging it, it would take nine years to cost-justify this car at a price of $80k. That assumes that the insurance and maintenance cost would be the same as for a Jetta GLS, the average gas price for the next nine years exceeds $4 a gallon, battery replacement is included in the price, and the car retains half its value. So, this would purely be a luxury purchase. I guess I need to go pull down a lot of cash so I can have one!

Richard Y

2:26pm | Jul 24, 2006

Martin,

Since the Tesla Roadster can go 70 MPH in the first gear, I would expect that the engine is not staying in its optimal range and shifting would be rare. That would mean a different transmission could improve the fuel efficiency and prevent any possible surprises that could happen if one was to accelerate to 75 MPG in a desert area and forget to switch gears. Have you considered replacing the manual transmission with an Audi Multitronic Continuously Variable transmission to resolve that? Many automobile enthusiasts do not like continuously variable tranmissions because they eliminate quick changes in engine noise and they like to shift gears when driving, but since the Tesla Roadster has no engine noise and can go 70 MPH in the first gear, it really should not matter. Continuously Variable Transmissions cost more than manual and automatic transmissions but the Tesla Roadster is for people who spare no expense so it also should not matter. I know that continuously variable transmissions offer an infinite number of speeds and automobile manufacturers are going to 6 speed transmissions to increase fuel economy because they offer efficiency increases over transmissions with fewer speeds, so a continuously variable transmission's efficiency gains should more than offset the increase in weight that it would have over a manual transmission. I do not know how to calculate this as I am not much of an automobile person (I am a computer person myself), but I would expect rather significant increases in fuel economy if the Tesla Roadster was equipped with a continuously variable transmission; perhaps you could even get close to 200 MPG equivalent efficiency.

Yours truly,
Richard Y

Luis Meireles

2:28pm | Jul 24, 2006

I would by this car if it were available in Portugal.

Europe needs a car like this. The gas prices here are completely unbelievable.

I love to drive, my whole family loves to drive. The thing is, we are not 'speed' drivers; we are 'distance' drivers. All of us have driven and continue to drive back and forth between the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific coasts. So far the best thing to do that in seems to be a VW bus; a 1989 Vanogon is my 12th and best so far. A typical trip for me is San Francisco to Austin in about 36 hours.

What I want: An electric Vanagon shaped thing that'll cruise indefinitely at 75 mph, run about 300 miles on a charge, and recharge in under an hour (while I enjoy some delicious Waffle House fare.) Maybe with 300 watts worth of solar panel on the roof to provide some sort of 'limp back to civilization' mode and extend the daytime range a bit.

Don Good

3:05pm | Jul 24, 2006

Helllllooo Tesla -
After all of this hype, I am sorely dissappointed in the design of this roadster. I was expecting something timeless and sleek, possibly low and long like a beautiful classic sports car, not a length challenged squished up me-to car.
I would say this car resembles something closer to a Pontiac Solstace than a Ferrari. Sure, it's not exactly like a Solstace, but it certainly comes closer to that than to a Ferrari.
I would say that you will have trouble selling this car, not because it's not a great car, which I'm sure it is, but because it's just not up to the looks of a $100K car. Please prove me wrong, I want Tesla to succeed, but with this odd design, you may have some trouble.
Best of luck,
Don

OK...what am I missing here? Seems a lot of people are upset at the price of this car, others want it in a family friendly model, instead of something that has some SEX APPEAL. For years I've been saddened at the electric cars marched out to market....they were/are UGLY, and never were going to turn into a swan. Tesla's introduction into the market is ALREADY A SWAN, a beautiful sleep wonderous machine with classic European lines and contours and it's ELECTRIC!

Now, I seem to recall reading that the fuel cost for this car is ONE CENT a mile. My wife, daily racks up eighty miles driving into New York city five days a week. That's 400 miles at 14 miles to the gallon, or just about 30 gallons a week. Here in New York gas is running $3.50 a gallon, or $105.00 a week! In one week, that is a savings of $101.00 and how much POLLUTION not in the air? Once one owns the car, seems to me, that the fuel savings alone will more than cover maintenance and battery replacement costs for the vehicle.

I suppose one should be asking, "what is one willing to pay to save Earth from Global Warming?" Does any one read up on what is going on in Greenland? How about Alaska where Polar Bears are losing their hunting habitat as it melts away, two Tsunami's have hit Indonesia in 18 months, and the United States is experiencing one of, if not the HOTTEST summer on record.

I can remember when one car in the driveway was a luxury for many folks, now families take two cars for granted, and plan on seeing their teenagers having a car of their own as well. Problem is, it's looking as if Earth cannot withstand that kind of wear and tear on her environment unless we find something other than fossil fuels. Tesla Motors seems headed in the right direction, and complaining about cost is the last thing any of us should be doing. Lets encourage them, for that matter, lets invest in them. Maybe you cannot afford one of the cars, but what if you could afford ONE SHARE OF STOCK in this company, would you buy one? I would, because I think this product, this car has a LOT OF LEGS on it.

I'll get off my soap box now.

Porgie Tirebiter

Dan Bales

4:13pm | Jul 24, 2006

Congratulations. I'm thrilled to see that someone has taken over where the EV1 left off. It truly was a great car! My wife and I were on the waiting list for the so-called EV2 (EV1 with Nickel Metal Hydride batteries), but they never became available as the "Who Killed the Electric Car?" movie makes clear. It bothers me to see individuals making cost recovery calculations without consideration of the fact that we will be saving the earth. Also, how can one make such comparisons since the future price of gasoline, while unknown, is certain to be more expensive as China and India become more vehicle intensive. The only way to make gas cheaper is to stop using the stuff!

Again, best wishes for much success.

Michael Thomas

5:27pm | Jul 24, 2006

I think the car looks great.
As for everyone who says the price is too high? Well it has to be high to start with, as the battery technology alone is costly. Do some research on state of the art batteries, try Poly Ion batteries.

Tesla is not a Ford, or General Motors, it is a start up car company, which by the way is selling a all electric sports car...lets see, what percentage is going to be buying here?

You start off small with the new tech, then as it gets mass produced and competition comes in ( and there are others), prices will come down. A well designed sports car is what will draw the interest to the vehicle, from there other models will follow.

I have been in the electric car business for 20 + years, I have seen, repaired and driven all makes and models. I am hoping this vehicle performs as stated, as it will truly set a new trend. It may even send Ford and Chevrolet back to the drawing board, lets hope so.

Andre

5:31pm | Jul 24, 2006

Some people are suggesting recharging or partly powering the car with solar cells/panels on the car. Someone suggested a 300 watt solar panel. A panel of that size (4x6 feet roughly) wouldn't fit on the car, and it's not very aerodynamic. Also it's barely enough to power a weed eater. The car probably wouldn't even move with that little power (about 1/3 hp). It's just not worth it.

Having solar panels on the roof of your house to recharge the car would make more sense (in terms of surface area), except you're most likely driving the car during the day when the sun's up. When you're at home in the evening, there's little or no sunlight to recharge the car with. I guess you could sell the power during the day back to the utility, which would offset the cost of charging the car at night when power may be cheaper.

Congratulations. Each and EVergyone[sp] of you heroes at Tesla Motors have helped to reinspire great hopes of a better future EVeryone and their children can look forward to and hopefuly enjoy, if we truly want it to happen. Thank you each and EVeryone who are collectively making it happen! And remember, it was the 'City of the Angels' where the good news first went out to the rest of the world, and at the same time, made a light where the Governor of this Golden State of California symbolically helped to commence this history-making EVent you all had a vital part in. God bless you and keep you strong for the fight ahead. What you accomplish here and now in terms of your engineering skills and technical know-how will certainly impact the future of mankind for good and forEVer. The world awaits your gifts.

If Nikola Tesla were still with us, he most probably would be rejoicing with you in celebration of what you are doing and where it might EVentually end. His own personal efforts and contributions to a dark world may yet still see the light of day through your fine efforts. May the force be with you!

Jonathan Carter

6:39pm | Jul 24, 2006

Finally! A company doing what the Big 3 should have done long ago. Can't wait to see these on the road.... Bravo!

David S

6:45pm | Jul 24, 2006

Congratuations! Keep up the good work!

I can't afford you new model but hope you will bring a commuter car soon! Electric cars with decent range are really the future. No changes needed at the gas station, in fact, close the gas station and put up a Starbucks!

Eamonn Finnegan

7:30pm | Jul 24, 2006

WOW! What a great car. I recently moved to Long Island and I'm spending $500/month on gas in my 17m/g pickup that I drive 120 miles/day. If you guys could make a commuter car that gets 200 miles/charge I would by it tomorrow.

I looked at the Prius yesterday. It will cost me $535/month before gas costs, so it is cheaper to keep driving my old reliable truck.

Looking forward to what you guys have in the future, good luck!

Paul Poy

7:36pm | Jul 24, 2006

Congratulations on the practical realization of efficiency and performance.
I am sure many will be interested in reliability but you seem to have addressed that by not "reventing the wheel" in certain design aspects.

IFor my future needs, would be more interested in a sedan and its usability in the Chicago, IL area, especially during the cold winters.

Anthony Larson

7:40pm | Jul 24, 2006

Martin Eberhard,
As a student at your alma mater, I would appreciate it if the Tesla Roadster made an appearance in Champaign in the next couple years. I am also interested in environmental stewardship and engineering, and know that the engineering students (as well as many others) would enjoy the opportunity to see and learn about this car and the technology behind it, as well as the ingenuity of a fellow Illini. Your dedication to this company and its success is admirable. I look forward to the day that I may have the opportunity to see this car and hopefully have a chance to meet with you.

There are tons of great sports cars out there NOW that could use an upgrade away from gasoline.

(counting the months to the rebuild on my 911).

Samo Kraker

11:11pm | Jul 24, 2006

And another congratulations from Slovenia, Europe. After several "hybrid" attempts, finally a total solution to end the oil-wars (and the rise of the fuel pricing...).

Sending you some positive vibrations to get succeseful, sell millions, start exporting the car to EU and don't forget to develop electric SW... ;)

Paolo Zanotti

11:28pm | Jul 24, 2006

I'm interested in buying 1 asap but I need to know how many kw/h absorbs during recharge at 220v because I have a limitation to 3kw/h and if it requires more I need to change my house electric hardware

Good for you!
We're involved in the HEV dev. as for the stator using our expertises in the forming/ winding: flat or round wire, formed and inserted into the slots, hight filling factor, compact dimension.
Why don't we have a speech about?

Regards,
Paolo Datore
Tecnomatic SpA
+39 335 424961

Dan Lindell

1:23am | Jul 25, 2006

Damn!!!...what a cool car and cool idea. Too bad you have to plug it in.

Electric cars for people that want performance...that is the selling point. You know how much crap I get from my girlfriend for having a stupid prius. Thank god the extra money I save on gas can buy her a nice dinner every now and then.

Seriously though has anyone thought of just hooking up a lawnmower engine with an alternator (or just a small generator) so we never need to plug it in. If it performs so well there is no need for the engine to propel the car, only to charge the battery.

Just my two cents: your on the right track, I wish I had the money to get in on this, and I think Nikola would totally dig it.

christian geiler

3:40am | Jul 25, 2006

Wow. I have been looking forward to such a solution. We can't destroy our environment futermore.

There are so many companies who just don't want to produce goods wich use resources which we are not running out of, because the profit would be less for them.

I also like that Tesla is getting some credit here. I think he is to much ignored in history when i look at the inventions he made.

I realy hope you'll hit the road fast, since if anybody in china is getting a oil powered car, we'll have a environmental holocaust.

At the momnent i go by bus or bike, but if the electrisity also is getting more and more evirionmental frindly i will change that.

Hi ,
My name is Ismini Fabiatou I’m an F3 and rally car driver ( info@ : http://www.fabiatou.com/2005_03_01_archive.html ) and a journalist in a Greek TV show called Traction. I read Joshua Davis’s article about Tesla Motors in wired magazine and I have to admit that I’m impressed –to say the least!!!With the middle east crisis and with oil rising prices it is essential to search for alternative sources of moving our vehicles- since it’s now apparent that burning fuel is not most efficient and ecomical way to produce energy. Your car it’s innovative not only because of the technology you are using, but because it’s changing the attitude of the consumers for the electric cars. It’s about time to change the profile of the electric vehicles, and let people know that electric cars are not necessarily pathetic slow moving vehicles, but they can also be performance cars. I have a blog page (www.fabiatou.com ) in which I write reviews/previews about cars in Greek language -with more than 300 unique visitors per day, and I was thinking-if you agree- to write an article about the car. I a’m wondering if you can provide me with a press kit, or some information and some photos of the car.

I would like to congratulate to you on your very big advancement in car industry.

Although, I have a question:

Why are you using TESLA name and do you have authorization to use that name.

It`s known that Nikola Tesla was serbian who discovered two-way electricity.

So, what`s going on with the name You are using right now???

Thank you very much!

Jason D

7:45am | Jul 25, 2006

So....that's quite an interesting car. The lithium-ion battery is a good choice, at least, it seems like a good choice. How much is it going to cost to replace that battery? Will it be subject to the regular problems that l-i batteries have, such as high temperatures permanently increasing the internal resistance of the battery? I can't imagine what it will be like if you put this car out in Southern California and the batteries will not release their charge after three years...what's your warranty going to be on those? Most l-i batteries fail within two-three years regardless of the number of charges...

But I'm sure you've thought about that, so how are you going to take care of this?

Please contact me by phone, fax or snail mail (no e-mail Please) to learn more about Nikola Tesla on this 150th anniversary of his birth. Ours is a serious Society incorporated in 1980 and the oldest U.S. based organization honoring and perpetuating the memory and ideals of Nikola Tesla.

I was favorably impressed by the CBS National evening news coverage of Saturday 7/22/06. It appears you are mounting a serious effort. If you wish to speak to Tesla's closest living relative, please take this opportunity. My contact details are available on our website.

William Terbo, Executive Secretary

Paulina

8:10am | Jul 25, 2006

This looks fantastic! And I really like your no-guilt attitude. To reduce that huge "transportation" portion of the oil graph even further, who's going to make the first electric truck?
Best wishes of success to Tesla.

Anne Hanson

8:22am | Jul 25, 2006

Thank you for your creativity and courage. I'll never be able to afford your car (like many, I'm sure), but that doesn't mean I don't back you 100%.

Too bad with the NavSat, carbon-fiber, and other goodies, this awesome little car will be priced far out of reach for everyone except environmentally concerned celebrities. The country could do with a compromise version of the car, with jus a two-speaker radio, fiberglass, and a top speed of 90mph or so. Range and highway merge capability are crucial. Everything else looks like window dressing to me.

Bruce Hopcus

8:33am | Jul 25, 2006

Congratulations & Thank You.

The dawn of a new age......The beginning of a New America!! Thank God someone had the drive & vision to get this vehicle built. I hoped that it wouldn't take to long and it didn't. Finally someone with a plan to allow America to step out of the "Ice Age of Detroit" and into the new millinium. Thank you Martin!! Thank you TESLA crew.
" A Tesla in every driveway in America" ...... I can't wait!!

Bruce H.
Buffalo, N.Y.

Jeremy Johnson

8:52am | Jul 25, 2006

Tesla Motors Team, Super

If you could build alliances with Star Bucks, Mc Donalds, Wallmart, Target, Bestbuy, you name it Malls, hotels, motels, restaurants, movie theaters, night clubs, bars, where ever people go during the day or night. Get them to have a couple or dozen pay based electric meters with visa/coin/bills just like a prepay gasoline pump. Then a person can go across the country stop at any major city with any of these establishments and plugin for a little bit and hangout, eat, shop, party, sleep, then go drive. The playing field will become more even. If there was no gas stations anywhere then people would not be able to go to far either. Hey If any of the above mentioned companies are reading this take note. If I had more of a reason to visit your businesses besides just the occasional thing, you would have a huge growth potential with me needing to pick you to charge up while I am shopping or eating. You get it, I hope the above do too. By the way if you could put a donation tab or investor tab for us with strong ideals and a few extra bucks to give to keep you strong well into the future and all of our eventual common wealth from your success.

Jeremy Johnson

Land of Ten Thousand Lakes

Moto Mike

9:08am | Jul 25, 2006

Please find enclosed my credit card number for purchase. She looks better than my Z4 and at last I can have my dream electric transport. Thanks for 'just doing this' and I look forward to picking up my car from a dealer in Scottsdale!

Micah G.

9:11am | Jul 25, 2006

I am glad I came across your site. I wish I knew of it earlier and especially for the name of a great inventor. I look forward to the success of this venture and it becoming a great American car company. I hope to see more models in the future too, Although the Roadster created is amazing.

Hopefully, as the car tours the shows, it will create interest and more investment into Tesla. Then maybe they will have the resourses to quickly develop this technology for a large sedan, 3 series size sedan, and a coupe / hatchback (think Volvo C30). I hope US companies jump all over this for partnerships etc. I imagine the Chinese would be very interested in developing a small car Tesla Nikola Mini.

Maybe this example of the computer / software product development will spawn other silicon valley upstarts!

I absolutely agree that you guys pieced together a car people want and need. The price is not right for most of us yet it but I do understand the business side of things so go ahead and price it at what your company deserves and let the market work things out. One day we'll all have one in our garages!

Almost perfect engineering! Not much I can pick on. Keep it up.

Robert Storey

9:55am | Jul 25, 2006

I must admit I am surprised how fast you have been able to reach this stage, but I wish you the best. I hope that at some point you set up the manufacturing base in North America (we'd love to build them in Canada) instead of China. I've seen others guessing at a price of $80-$100K, but I can see these easily going for $250K or more, especially if you sell them via Ebay.

Excellent if all the promises are truly delivered. The one missing component is long range trips. 3.5 hrs at a recharging station is a problem. I have a solution but from my experience, it is a bit more radical than the investment community is ready for.

David Santos

12:23pm | Jul 25, 2006

The entries to the blog says volumes about the interest in an electric vehicle. The Tesla Roadster seems like an instant hit and more realistic that AC Propulsion's T-Zero. My resume is in. Alternative fuel vehicles are the future of the auto industry and the company with sexy, fun to drive products that don't look like a golf cart and move faster than 25 mph will capture the public eye and their wallets. Someone above suggested car sales reps will someday use a 250 mile range limitation as a reason not to buy an EV. Who really drives 250 miles per day anyway? My communte has been as much as 79 miles each way in recent years. Even then, there was time between trips to plug in and recharge. What's needed is early adoption by wealthy enviromentally friendly drivers, opening the door to other models, as well as broader infrastructure development in cities of all sizes.

John L Tinkham

12:44pm | Jul 25, 2006

Necessity is the mother of invention and the severity of need the accelerator for growth of the industry that can fulfill that need. Wow! So there is hope. Let\'s vie for some government attention here. We bailed out Crysler because it was for the good of the nation. We send two hunded billion per year to [deleted] Iraq. Keeping the fuel money in the USA in the form of electric utility makes so much sense. Is there not wise representation for the peoplo by the people? I am convinced that what the media flaunts will get the most attention. Get CNN to give a report every 10 days of those that can but won\'t assist you. Praise the political gears that churn the butter the money that is for the public good. Freedom will ring truer when the chains of addiction for foriegn oil are severed for good. There\'s hope, I feel better already.

Michael Lawson

12:50pm | Jul 25, 2006

Martin,

Thanks for making this incredible thing happen. Your documentation in your white paper, your graphs, and your FAQs is superb. Although several posters commented about the need for a cheaper, "family" version, I agree that the best thing to do is target the upper market segment, and then let the early adopters bring down prices for us all. The same thing has happened with plasma TV's, microcomputer memory modules, and even the original VCR's and microwave ovens!

Here are some of the things I'd like to see you discuss in detail in your future blog entries:

1. The state of the art in battery technologies you looked at when deciding on a battery. Particularly comment about A123 Systems, Altair Nanotechnologies, and the ultracapacitor companies.

3. Discuss some of the hurdles you experienced safety and regulation-wise with bringing a new car to the market. Previous comments on the website seemed to indicate it was a harder thing to do than you expected.

4. Address how are you going to address the "exploding laptop battery" image problems as of late, and the safety implications?

5. How are your 6,800 cells managed? Individual charge controllers? How can a few cells go bad without affecting the performance of the remainder (this could be a major headache if they were all in one big series string, as are some EV's).

6. What part has AC Propulsion Inc. played into this, if any? Are you using either their AC motor or their motor controller?

7. I love the part about shedding the image of a "punishment vehicle". Care to wax poetic on the future of mankind and advanced technology to overcome the world's problems?

Even thogh I can't afford this car, I hope that your pioneering work will excite the marketplace, spur on additional innovation, and eventually help bring down the price of Li-ion batteries to where electric is the primary mode of transportation in the world. Uh, how about within the next 10 years!

I think the car is amazing.
If I ever have a successfull business I'll buy one.
Best of luck with it...

Julian

1:12pm | Jul 25, 2006

HI !!

there are no words on earth to discribe my happynes when i saw your fantastic car!!

PEASE .. PLEASE .. PLEASE .. sell them in europe !!!

why not sell them via lotus all over the world !?

Joel

1:13pm | Jul 25, 2006

Congratulations!

Perhaps in a few years you can buy out Ford when they file for bankrupcy and acquire their assembly line infrastructure to start mass producing these things.

Here is a caveat though: as the lithium/aluminum battery industry matures it will do its absolute most to make any battery operated car a "captured product", meaning it will tacitly collude in an attempt to cap the lifespan of all mass-produced car batteries , thus capturing future replacement sales over the life of a single vehicle.

The technology to incease battery lifespan will undoubtably arise naturaly as the industry matures, but just watch as young upstart companies are gobbled up by established players who all of a sudden deem their prospective advancements 'unfeasable'.

General Electric made a lightbulb that could last 100 years once. Heard anything about that lately?

There are a few of us out there with similar ideas and designs, but not the resources your team brings to bear on this project. Bradley Boatworks builds ultra-light high strength composite boats and I could easily see an application where we could integrate the power pack, controls, and motor into one of our high performance boats. It would be really awesome to see a completely clean boat running around on the lake with no emissions or fluid leakage commonly associated with high performance gas powered boats.

I know you don’t want to give away all of your hard work and technology, but what about partners in different market segments? It worked for Dodge in the 1920’s, Google the Dodge Watercar to see what I am talking about.

Oh – and kudo’s for the awesome car and leading edge technology.

Stephan

Bjorn

1:27pm | Jul 25, 2006

I think this is great - finally proving that existing technology, cleverly put togthether can reduce the need for exploding gasoline and other fuel. Now, why am I missing the regenerating brakes? Higher unsuspended weight not worthy of a sportscar? Really looking forward to a VW Golf class car, the "car" car, nothing to exciting, just a good piece of transportation that the normal John can afford buy.
Keep up the good work...

james ward

1:34pm | Jul 25, 2006

I like the idea, have you issued some stock yet? if so who do I contact?

Bjorn

1:40pm | Jul 25, 2006

So why did GM and even Toyota kill off the EV? Understandable - they want to sell the technically most expensive and complex transport solution possible, something that's requireing constant maintenance and oil changes... AND refilling! That is why the hybrids are being developed, a great way af selling a product with both a combustion engine AND an electrical one. Great for turnover... A pure EV is a relatively simple product, requires ltlle if not any service, massproduced it will be cheap(er). What we need is a resonbly cheap pure EV, recharge stations at every gas station, motel and on-the.road Starbucks. Then we can start to think about how to clean the grid electricity, but already now that is cleaner than even a HEV...

So where is the government incentive and legislation? Why don't we get the push in the right direction that unfortunately is required?
Oh, forgot, oil rules this country....

For the money, today is a Prius with a plug-in conversion the only thing I can afford.... with regenerating brakes....

Ray Luterbach

1:57pm | Jul 25, 2006

This is COOL!

Will the trunk be large enough for my golf clubs? If it is, when are you going to sell in Minnesota?

I would also like to add to a suggestion from one of the other writers above. Not only could shopping malls, Starbucks etc have quick charge capabilities; but why not have them be solar powered. That technology has advanced over the years as well.

I would also like to congratulate your team on the "How can we" attitude and not the why we can't .

Also, initially, if you can offer super low interest rate for like 10 years, then more people can afford it. Hopefully, the price will come down so that everybody can afford it. With my current financial, I can only look into your Electric Sedan 08 with the hope that it will be much cheaper than this Marvel.

Thank you
Hoang

Mark Birnbaum

3:04pm | Jul 25, 2006

This will let you know how excited I am about what you are doing. Yesterday morning I left southern California by car for San Rafael (400 miles) to see a potential new client. I needed to be back in southern California today, but I had to at least see your headquarters on Bing Street. I drove into the parking lot around 8 last night, I could see a few people still at work in one of the offices along the front. The front door was locked so I couldn't say hi. For the next 6 hours driving home all I could think of is how great it will be to not be stopping for gas in the near future (total trip 822 miles and a lot of gas). Please put me on your list for a car and I would love to help you sell them.

I love the work you have done, I love the car, and I love the outlook of the company. Being a big fan of Nikola Tesla, the name of the company is just very sweet too. Getting this car, or one like it, is definitely a goal for me in the future. In closing, I just want to say that I also love the fact that you just maintain the blog without marketing or pc filters, honest, and real. I am very stoked since finding a video of the Tesla Roadster unveiling in Santa Monica earlier today and discovering the Tesla Motor company.

Steven Cogorno

6:24pm | Jul 27, 2006

I really want to buy an electric car. I can't stand going to the gas station, and it really irritates me that gasoline powered cars are *so* inefficient.

But here's what stops me from buying an electric car this very minute. I live in a townhouse, with a garage. But the homeowners' association would have to approve of the electrical changes to the garage to be able to charge the EV. Even though I would pay for all of the modifications, the HOA would never approve of a drastic change like that.

One of the reasons that I live in a townhouse is because I believe they are more environmentally friendly. The density is higher, which combats sprawl. And, the buildings are more energy efficient because of shared walls and good insulation.

This might not be affect the majority of your customers. But, environmentally conscious customers are going to be a big part of your customer base.

I hope politicians in California will have the insight to require HOAs to allow owners to make reasonable changes to their units to enable charging of EVs.

Thanks for the work you do.

jeff flanagan

9:09pm | Jul 28, 2006

The roadster looks awesome! I cant wait till you get tesla srevice in NYS. I have a question. Could you convert a gasoline powered vehicle (Say like a 1972 chevelle or 1969 cutlass) over to a tesla powertrain? Now that would be interesting. look forward to reading everyone's comments on this

Lester Poole

9:36am | Aug 2, 2006

Great start ... but its built on the mentality that is destroying Detroit. An $80,000 dollar sports car that will only travel about 400 or so miles every before needing a recharge does no good to resolve the energy crisis. While it is really dazzling eye candy for for PR, the public needs economical electric cars for local travel. Good first step, but your business plan needs to build a foundation that does good for society in general, not just build hot toys for the rich.

Do what Detroit has failed to do, provide the 'Woriking; public with economical electric transportation. A two to six seater with carry capacity for grocery and general shopping, travel to and from work, hauling the kids and errands. Its price point needs to be in the teens. Solar collectors to the top of large surfaces would help extend its travel range. This will do more good for the economy , provide a real help for working Americans who need releif from high gas prices, any fancy sports car concept. Your decission makers may be able to afford an $80,000 dollar sports car with limited utility, but the general working public cannot. This is why Detroit is failing. Continue the great work, but get real!, avoid the Detroit trap.

Lester Poole
An American worker

vilo

1:17am | Aug 6, 2006

I am big fan of what you are doing, but I have to say your styling sucks. The look is of a little beefed up Miata. I know it's radical upgrade style-wise from bike like electric cars of electric car enthusiasts but, what you did, design wise is very unimpressive. Styling is weak. There was electric sport car prototype from Toyota, I am sure you are aware of, called Volta, which had much more powerful styling than yours. There are a lot of young talented car designers out there, just check the Car Design News website that would do much better job than Lotus people did. Only cool design Lotus ever produced was Eclipse. All of their new Miata like styling sucks big time. There is no feeling of power in their designs. That power you can feel from Ferrari and Lamborghini brands. After so much of great engineering effort your lack of style is going to kill you. I wish you all of the best luck with what you are doing.

EJ

8:24pm | Aug 15, 2006

Hi,
This car looks great I know that in the future I will definitively afford one of these, its just a matter of time. I have to complete my studies, and then I will be on my way to get this fascinating electrical car. I see some negative comments and you have probably met resistance along the way, and that is very good!! It is a good sign because only true entrepeneurs will go out of the norm and not follow the rest of the herd. When someone opposes you it is often because they are wondering why you are heading in your direction when the rest of the sheep is going the other way. This is in fact a sign of a leap in developement and new thinking. I wish you all the best with testing and modifications. And I'll be waiting to get a Tesla in the future when I have money available to me.

David Calahan

11:32am | Aug 17, 2006

MARTIN:
WELL DONE. YOUR CAR AND THE KNOCK-OFFS THAT FOLLOW WILL CHANGE THE WORLD ECONOMY.

IS CHINA INTERESTED IN MAKING THE LOW PRICED FAMILY CAR THAT IS BOUND TO FOLLOW YOUR LUXURY CAR?

I CAN HARDLY WAIT FOR OPEC TO PLEAD WITH THEIR BUYERS TO USE MORE OIL AND TO WATCH THE PRICE FALL TO $10-$20/BBL. YOUR TIMING COULD NOT BE BETTER.

PLEASE US INFORMED, David Calahan

Alan P

10:11pm | Aug 17, 2006

Tesla folks: First, I want to say that I am pleased that you are in the marketplace, as I think what you are doing is important.

I am concerned, however, that there is no mention of "safety" equipment in your web literature. I am afraid to ask this, because I really want your vehicle to be successful....but, do you have any airbags? ABS? Stability Control? Rollover protection?

I agree that protecting the environment is critical, but I also want to protect myself and my passenger. I know your car isn't supposed to be entirley practical (do people who spend 100k really need to be practical?), but I am concerned about the safety of such a vehicle.

Still, I am glad this is a driver's car, and not a piece of junk. But would it really add too much weight, and kill the efficiency, to add the safety stuff? Do I really need an internal combustion engine to haul that stuff around? If so, maybe the 4 cylinder coupled with they hybrid approach really is the bare minimum that is practical for folks who will spend 15,000 miles a year strapped into a beast on the roads.

Some info about safety would be great. Is the driver protected by a high-tech cage, at least?

THANK GOODNESS SOMEONE HAS FINALLY GOT SOMETHING GOING TO PUSH AWAY BIG OIL!!! Now just get the price down to where the working class can afford it and you'll have something everyone will get!!

Mark Strittmatter

12:28pm | Oct 15, 2006

interested in your stock if you go public

If they happen to make more in the comming year I would like to hear about it and where you
can order one. Also Let me know about it if you ever go public on the market. The only problem with this kind of business is that it is what our country really need to get rid of our
need for foriegn oil, and because of that your life ( company C.E.O ) could be in danger.
Just like Tesla the scientist the government ( C.I.A ) will come after the C.O. president.
Please watch yourself; our government is owned by the big oil C.O. A good electric car is
stepping on their toes. Think about Joseph Newman and what big brother has and is doing to him.

This is outstanding. I congratulate you on what appears to be a great start. I too love to drive and it's so encouraging to see a company building a car that's a thrill to drive and environmentally responsible. I can't wait to get one out here in Massachusetts. Great American innovation is what makes me patriotic.

karl

9:24pm | Jan 26, 2007

Wow I guess we are not on the same side and my comments just made are already too loudly deleted (even though you only admitted to this practice as late as some months later after starting out with notions of marketing free wonderfulnes above).

I just decreased my res to it's lowest of 600x800... halibut, SLI antique I'm browsing on doesn't do lower but fortunately it's big enough on this screen to read now.

If only I wasn't too lazy/timestarmed at the moment I could copy all th ese things over and maybe have them read to me collect somehow from prison when I have time lol.

Seriously the cost of driving is in the road and the carnage. Segwaying pricewise makes you no hero. Sex appeal in fact is based upon standing out from the Crowd. THe original ford, the man, marketed widely in his ambition at least I know that. You just want to drive the halibut thing and in yhour first post don't claim higher ambition then that. Gas cars or CNG sportsters I guess your staff can't afford but more likely can't get do gooders to pay for as this one might.

----
Editor's Answer: Your comments were not deleted - all comments are moderated before posting, so there is a delay. The blog has been moderated in this way since day 1.

Your name says Tesla; however, I do not see any indication that you have any understanding of what Tesla was working on his entire life. Electric vehicles, under conventional theory, are not a solution to the pollution or energy problem. They only shift the problem further down the line. For example. I drive a battery powered electric vehicle. I am smug, knowing that I drive a polution free vehicle. In reality, all I have done is move my direct creation of the pollutants to a central source; the electric generating station; probably coal-fired.

The main issue preventing electric vehicles that require recharging is that if everyone had one the conductors used to wire our supply grid would probably become so large as they could not be strung. We would be talking I-beam sized wires to provide the current demands of a large city and millions of electric cars being recharged all at the same time.

The real solution lies within Tesla's experiments and Maxwell's full set of theorems. energy is abundant, unlimited, and free for the taking. Look to the positive; split the positive; collect the radiant energy to run your devices. A grade 8 school-girl did it at her school board's science fair... She was disqualified from the fair, as not one of the judging academics could understand how she did it; they assumed it was a hoax. She built a simple circuit from a Tesla patent. She ran a motor (fan), 2 LEDs, and a transistor radio for the week long fair from a single battery that measured 0 (Zero) discharge after the week. She was able to explain exactly how it all worked and that the battery was only necessary to provide an initial charge to start the cicuit; once activated the circuit provides its own energy and in turn replenishes the batery. The biggest problem she had to deal with was DUMPING THE EXCESS ENERGY her cicuit created. This girl was a big follower of E.V. Gray and got the plans for her project from the group that are continuing his research.

What is accepted and taught in science theory today is WRONG, older science was closer to the mark; the ether exists and is the source of unlimited energy. Just remember to split the possitive, fuck the electrons; they have mass. I think it is a cover-up, back from J.P. Morgan and other builderburger's of his day... This knowledge, world-wide, would totally destroy the world's economy as it is today. Free energy... what a concept. Total destruction of my supressors. I like it!!!

Jaw dropping news. Read about the car in depth on your website, and it was jaw dropping all the way through.

By the way, don't engineer yourselves out of the option of installing right-hand steering and controls. This car, and other models as you progress, will sell well in Japan, where gasoline is currently around $5.00 per gallon and rising.recover deleted facebook messages
You are onto the right future. Hybrids don't deliver what they promised, and they already are looking like a dead end. Biodiesel looks good, but it may eventually be ruinous to agriculture. Complete independence from hydrocarbon fuel is the way. Now if only we can figure out how to do that with electric power generation.How to Recover deleted whatsapp messagestrack facebook profile visitors